Cracking down on domestic violence

Domestic Violence Awareness month is observed each October as a way to bring attention to the problem of domestic violence and to support efforts to end domestic violence.

Eighty-nine women were killed in 2019 in the state of Missouri by their domestic partners. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, guns were used in 86% of these domestic violence-related homicides. Under federal law, domestic violence abusers found guilty of a misdemeanor are denied the ability to access or purchase firearms. This is not the law in Missouri. Nearly 1 million women alive today have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner. On average, 53 women are shot per month by an intimate partner, and 4.5 million women report being threatened with a gun.

Statewide domestic violence laws are needed because without a state law that mirrors the federal law, local and state officials cannot enforce the prohibition against abusers convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence using firearms. As a survivor of domestic violence, who was subjected to physical and emotional abuse from my ex-husband over a period of nine years, I know what is at stake. Our legislature must close loopholes so that abusers do not have easy access to firearms. Missouri needs common sense laws to prevent intimate partner gun homicides.

If you or someone you know needs help to escape an abusive situation, visit semosafehouse.org or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224 for tty.

LESLIE WASHINGTON, Cape Girardeau