Gabby Giffords Applauds Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy’s Signature of Bipartisan Bill to Protect Domestic Violence Survivors, Help Keep Guns Out of the Hands of People Under Temporary Restraining Orders
June 2, 2016 – Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the Co-Founder of the national gun violence prevention organization Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS), today applauded Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy’s signature of a bipartisan bill (H.B. 5054), which helps keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers by closing the gap in Connecticut law that lets individuals subject to temporary (or ‘ex parte’) restraining orders legally buy and own guns.
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 survivors from abusers with access to firearms. Read more about the research here.
“This is a victory for common sense and a victory for safer communities. In the face of calls from Connecticut’s domestic violence survivors and public safety officials, Republicans and Democrats came together to help keep guns out of the wrong hands and save lives,” said Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. “I want to thank Governor Malloy for championing this badly-needed legislation that will help make Connecticut a safer place to live. Governor Malloy is a true Champion for Common Sense. Under Governor Malloy, Connecticut continues to lead the way in the fight for responsible change that makes it harder for dangerous people to get guns, respects the rights of law-abiding people, and reduces gun violence. ”
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.