Aims To Prevent Future Violence
The Assembly passed last Wednesday, Mar. 21, the Domestic Violence Escalation Prevention Act, a measure sponsored by Assemblyman Rory Lancman that would bar convicted perpetrators of domestic violence from owning firearms.
Of all crimes, domestic violence has the highest repeat rate, according to a study in 2002 by the Vera Institute of Justice.
“A firearm is dangerous in the hands of any criminal, and even more so in the hands of a convicted domestic abuser,” Lancman said. “Domestic violence is a crime of escalation, and this law [A.4488A] prohibiting domestic abusers from owning firearms will help prevent future tragedies.”
According to the group Futures Without Violence, one-third of all women who are murdered in the United States are murdered with a gun at the hands of their male domestic partner, and access to firearms yields a more than five-fold increase in the risk of domestic homicide.
“The fact that criminals convicted of domestic violence are allowed to lawfully own a gun is frightening, especially to the victims who may be subjected to future violence,” Lancman said. “People have a right to be safe in their homes, and it is our responsibility as representatives to protect that right.”
Lancman is also the lead sponsor of the Safe Homes Act (A.6747), which would allow police to confiscate guns from the homes of those accused of domestic violence acts.
