You want to do something to reduce gun violence, here’s the place to start.
Domestic violence cases have risen sharply across the state, with more than 210,000 wives, girlfriends, husbands and others suffering death or injury at the hands of a family member in the past two years. More than 550 wives or girlfriends were killed by a domestic partner between 2012 and 2016, according to state figures.
“We continue to underestimate the reach and devastation of domestic violence,” said Gloria Aguilera Terry, chief executive of the Texas Council on Family Violence. “Domestic violence thrives in the silence and obliviousness we give it. Only when we confront the very conditions which allow domestic violence to exist will our homes, public spaces and places of worship be truly safe.”
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Despite law enforcement’s best efforts to curb the violence, the deaths continue unabated. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science recorded 229 domestic violence homicides from 2010 to 2016, or an average of 31 homicides a year.
Of those, at least 22 – about 10 percent – were relatives of the main victim.
Amanda Johnson, with the Dallas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Guns Sense in America, said the shooting underscores the need for smarter gun laws.
“People violent enough to be violent enough with their own children and spouses are also violent enough to commit mass murder,” she said. “When they have easy access to these weapons, it’s a really deadly combination.”
She and other advocates hope the Sutherland Springs shooting will spark a national dialogue, particularly with the daily abuse many women face that doesn’t draw the same scrutiny as a mass shooting.
“Up until now, the media would lose interest in a shooting once they found out it was a domestic violence incident and not a ‘real’ crime,” Johnson said. “Sutherland Springs is a game-changer.”
Sherri Kendall, CEO of Aid to Victims of Domestic Violence, said approximately 1 in 4 women experiences domestic violence at one point or another.
“While we are seeing a number of multiple homicides with domestic violence in the timeline, it is happening all the time,” she said. “We have to learn something from it. When this story is over we have to continue to be vigilant in our communities to make sure there are services for survivors and for perpetrators.”
The Sutherland Springs shooting highlighted the need to ensure domestic abusers can’t possess firearms, advocates said.
“This man had a history of abuse, and he should not have had access to a firearm, and we are advocating for stricter gun laws when it comes to being the hands of convicted abusers,” said Chau Nguyen, chief marketing officer at the Houston Area Women’s Center. “If we don’t take action, we’re going to see this as a recurring reality in our lives – and we know the link between domestic violence abusers and mass shooters.”
The link between domestic violence and gun violence is very strong. It’s not just the guys who commit the big headline-grabbing mass murders who depressingly and consistently turn out to have had a history of domestic violence, it’s the everyday (literally, every day) three-to-six people killings that no one outside those affected pay attention to because we’re all mesmerized by the latest double-digit massacre. There are many things we could do to ameliorate this if we wanted to. My advice would be to elect more people who do want to do something about it.
We already have laws about prohibiting the sale of weapons to people with D.V. convictions. I’d be amenable to looking in to at least temporarily disarming people convicted of D.V., but it would have to be heavily weighted in favor of the accused keeping his guns. D.V. is a real issue, but false accusations are also used as a (no pun intended) weapon in divorce cases and marital spats.
Before I’m OK with taking away someone’s gun, I want to be REALLY sure that person is violent and is a threat to the public or their own family members. And even if there’s a (pun also intended) bullet proof case against someone that merits taking that person’s gun away, there needs to be some procedure for that person to have gun ownership rights restored. You want ex felons to have their voting rights restored? I want a pathway for people with D.V. convictions to have their gun rights restored, too.
The guy who shot up the Texas church should have been prevented from buying guns under our current laws. If we are using that case to “do something,” perhaps we ought to “enforce the laws currently on the books,” which in this case means, the Air Force needs to pay more attention to record keeping. It was their screw up that allowed the shooter to walk into Academy and buy guns.
@Bill, the Lautenberg amendment, bans possession of firearms by people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, or under a restraining order, some details here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_Violence_Offender_Gun_Ban
The law does require an actual hearing, with representation or a waiver of representation to take effect. An ex parte hearing doesn’t meet the requirements. There is no path to restoration of gun rights without expungement or a pardon.