EAST ORANGE, N.J. – At a news conference today, a group led by United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) released a report on the impact of the law written by Lautenberg ten years ago that prohibits the sale of firearms to convicted domestic abusers.

The Domestic Violence Gun Ban passed Congress and was signed into law in 1996 by former President Clinton as part of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997. The report revealed that, from 1996 through the end of this year, the law will have prohibited convicted domestic abusers from buying firearms on more than 150,000 occasions.

“Numbers tell a story—and the story here is easy to understand: the gun ban is helping save lives,” Lautenberg said. “With the gun ban in place, if you are convicted of assaulting your wife or beating your child, we are not going to allow you to arm yourself with a gun.”

This law specifically bans the shipment, transport, sale or ownership of guns by individuals convicted of domestic violence.

Sheila Massoni, a New Jersey resident whose daughter was a victim of domestic violence, spoke at the event and recognized October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “The last thing I would want is for someone like the man who killed my daughter to be able to own a gun. That’s why what Senator Lautenberg did is so important,” she said.

Also joining Lautenberg were Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo; Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura; Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow; Representative Donald Payne; Mayor Robert Bowser; State Council President of the Million Mom March Carole Stiller; Executive Director of NJ Coalition for Battered Women Barbara Price; President of Youth Consultation Services Richard Mingoia; and YCS PALS Program Director Mary Houtsma.

A copy of Senator Lautenberg’s report can be found on the frint page of Senator Lautenberg's website under "Special Projects"