Connecticut Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz is calling for new gun safety measures to curb domestic violence. She spoke on Wednesday alongside advocates and local legislators at the New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence.
New legislation proposed by Governor Ned Lamont would keep domestic abusers from getting a gun permit. It would also require safe storage for all gun owners and force buyers to wait 10 days between buying and bringing home a firearm.
Bysiewicz said the 10-day waiting period would keep anyone from impulsively buying and using a weapon.
“Let me just say this very simply, an abuser with a gun puts women and families at risk, and the statistics are just sickening,” Bysiewicz said. “Abusers with firearms are five times more likely to kill their female victims.”
More than a dozen Connecticut women are killed by intimate partners every year, and 40% of the murders involve a firearm.
Bysiewicz said almost 60% of female murder victims in the state are killed by intimate partners.
Jeremy Stein is the executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence. He said kids suffer when they witness domestic violence at home.
“Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abusers if the abuser owns a firearm,” Stein said. “And it's not just adults, it's not just intimate partners. But it's also children that live in these homes.”
Stein said making gun owners lock up their weapons would help prevent suicides, domestic abuse, and community gun violence.
