U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have introduced legislation to keep domestic abusers from buying and possessing guns.
It’s called the Lori Jackson-Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act, named after two women who were killed by their abusers.
Blumenthal said the bill could have protected Lori Jackson, a 32-year-old from Oxford, Connecticut, who was shot and killed by her estranged husband in 2014.
“Most women have no protection against an abuser with a gun,” Blumenthal said. “And we know that more than half of all homicides, 55% of all homicides against women, are done by abusers, by intimate partners. There is a very simple way to provide women with more protection, and that is the Lori Jackson-Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act.”
Connecticut is one of only 13 states that has banned the sale and possession of firearms for people under restraining orders.
Murphy said that’s unacceptable.
“This isn't the only place where there's domestic violence,” Murphy said. “This isn't the only place where there is a threat to the safety of women. But because we are so casual in this country about allowing dangerous people at dangerous moments to have guns, our country is the place where domestic violence turns lethal overnight.”
The senators said they hope it will gain bipartisan support.
“We don't have any yet,” Blumenthal said. “But we did for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This measure is a logical extension of that measure, which protects women at the time of maximum danger.”
