Interesting article in the Dallas Morning News today about efforts to prevent folks convicted of domestic violence or abuse from gun ownership. Under federal law, anyone found to have committed family violence (aka domestic abuse), whether in a criminal proceeding or by way of a civil protective order, is prohibited from purchasing a gun. The identity of the person should be reported to the National Crime Information Center, which is the registry used for gun sales. Unfortunately, the lower level courts in Dallas County have not been reporting convictions. By the end of October, even municipal courts will begin reporting the identities and fingerprints of all people who are found guilty or plead no contest to Class C misdemeanor family violence charges. Class C cases involve verbal threats or physical contact that did not result in visible injury. No one walks away with more than $500 ticket. About 2,200 such cases came through the Dallas courts in the last three to four years.

The new action was inspired by the shooting at Sutherland Springs last year. The gunman had been convicted in military court of domestic assault, but it was not sent to the database. If it had been the gunman would not have been permitted to buy the gun that he used in the shooting.

Dallas council members previously approved $45,000 to buy three Live Scan Fingerprinting systems needed to secure info for the database. While this may seem small in the grand scheme of the City of Dallas budget, smaller cities will have a harder time bearing such costs.

Read the news story here: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/10/15/dallas-keep-guns-domestic-abusers-hands

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The statistics about the common occurrence of domestic violence are astounding.

• THREE women in the US are murdered every day by their current or former boyfriends.
• 38 MILLION + people in the US have experienced physical violence by a partner at some point during their lifetime.
• 4.7 MILLION women experience physcial violence by a partner every YEAR.
• 20 people every MINUTE are victims of domestic violence.
• 1 in 4 women will be a victim of severe domestic violence in their lifetime. 1 in 7 men will fall victim to severe domestic violence. 2 in 5 gay men will experience domestic violence.
• 45% of women in violent relationships are also raped in those relationships.
• Every 9 seconds a woman is beaten in the US.
• 70% of women worldwide will experience physical and/or sexual abuse by an intimate partner during their lifetimes.
• 98% of people who experience domestic violence also experience financial abuse.
• Black women experience domestic violence at rates more than 35% higher than white women.
• Only 25% of physical assaults are reported to the police.

Read more here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/domestic-violence-statistics_n_5959776.html

Download a domestic violence fact sheet here: https://www.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/domestic_violence2.pdf

Download the fact sheet about Domestic Violence in TExas here: https://www.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/texas.pdf