Gabby Giffords Calls on Connecticut House of Representatives to Pass Measure to Prevent People Subject to Temporary Domestic Violence Restraining Orders from Legally Accessing Guns

April 26, 2016 – Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the Co-Founder of the gun violence prevention organization  Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) , today called on leaders in the Connecticut House of Representatives to pass HB 5054, which addresses gaps in Connecticut law to help close the loopholes that allow people under temporary restraining orders to legally buy and own guns.

Earlier this month, a recent survey of Connecticut voters conducted on behalf of Americans for Responsible Solutions found that 86 percent of Connecticut voters support closing this loophole to help protect domestic violence victims from abusers with access to firearms. Read more about the research  here .

“I urge leaders in the Connecticut House to come together and pass this responsible bill that will help close a loophole that gives dangerous domestic abusers easy access to guns,” said Congresswoman Giffords. “Now is the time for leaders in the House to act, to be responsible, and to help protect Connecticut families. Connecticut can continue to lead the way in keeping guns out of the wrong hands and making our communities safer places to live.”

Congresswoman Giffords traveled to Connecticut last year to meet with leaders in the Connecticut legislature and domestic violence prevention community to discuss the nexus of gun violence against women and families, and to call for action on this issue and other commonsense proposals. Click  here  and  here  to read more.

As in the rest of the country, there is an often lethal link between domestic violence situations and an abuser’s access to firearms in Connecticut. Between 2000 and 2011, 175 people in the state of Connecticut were killed by an intimate partner, and 38 percent of these homicides were committed with a gun. In 2010, more than 90 percent of Connecticut domestic violence homicide victims were women.

Nationally, women in the U.S. are 11 times likely to be murdered with a gun than women in other developed countries, and more than half of all murders of America’s women are committed with a gun. Abused women are also five times more likely to be killed if their abuser has access to a firearm.