How Gun Violence Affects Women and 4 Policy Solutions to Better Protect Them

[Lee-Lee]

2. We don't even enforce what we have now for abusers

When I worked domestic violence I had several cases of men (and one woman) with protective orders against them either trying to buy guns or using a straw buyer to get one.

Even trying to buy a gun when you have an order against you is a federal felony.

I tried to get the BATFE to go after them- in every single case, even the straw buyer I had a confession from, they didn't.

It's insanity. Here is a guy with a order for protection against him. He is trying to buy a gun. He commits a felony telling a lie about his eligibility on the form. They refuse to even follow up- so he walks out to pursue whatever means to his end.

They don't even call whatever jurisdiction issued the order and say "hey, this guy just tried to buy a gun, heads up". Only way I found out was I was proactive and updated lists of people in my county at local gun shops so in case NICS didn't get updated in time they would still deny them, and they reported denials from the list to me.