Bill would require courts to tell abusers to give up guns

Victims’ rights advocates say MI lags behind some other states when it comes to laws meant to keep guns from domestic abusers.

More than a dozen states have strengthened laws over the past two years to strip gun rights from those convicted of domestic violence crimes and those with protective orders against them.

A total of 39 people in Utah were killed with guns by their spouses, ex-spouses and dating partners between 2006 and 2014, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data analyzed by The Associated Press.

The measures have been backed by a broad coalition of advocates for domestic violence victims, law enforcement groups and gun control supporters who see easy access to firearms as a major contributor to domestic violence killings.

“We’re seeing our politicians, our state leaders, are coming around to this, too”.

He said he hopes for a committee hearing for the legislation this year.

Last year, the legislature allowed couples in a dating relationship to qualify for emergency protection orders, becoming the last state in the country to do so. “That would do a heck of a lot more to protect these women”.

There have been 264 domestic violence-related homicides in Utah from 2000-2013, according to data from the state health department.

“Any domestic violence is unacceptable and we take a very strong stance”, the sheriff said.

Only time will tell if South Carolina’s new domestic violence law is effective in keeping guns out of abusers’ hands, officials said. The enactment of a specific domestic violence charge allowed the names to be entered into a federal database that prohibits people convicted of such charges from purchasing or possessing a firearm. That information turns up when licensed dealers conduct background checks and has resulted in more than 120,000 applicants being denied since 1998 for having misdemeanor domestic violence convictions.

A key piece of the gun compromise hammered out between Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and top GOP lawmakers last month would bar people who are subject to permanent protective orders from possessing a firearm. “We believe they are absolutely lifesaving”.

Solicitor Duffie Stone, who prosecutes criminal cases for six Lowcountry counties, said the new law provides prosecutors with another tool that can solve the reporting problems – all cases can be tried in General Sessions court, the highest trial level court with a much better system to track records, instead of by a lower-level magistrate.

“South Carolina is no longer thinking about the convenience of the abuser”, Haley said when she signed the bill in June. “But most people are against gun violence”, she said.