Misdemeanor assault convictions for domestic violence were enough to invoke a federal ban on firearms, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.
Annie Sturby is the community safety assessment coordinator for the Kansas City-based Rose Brooks Center. She works with police, prosecutors and others in the community who interact with victims of domestic abuse.
Rarely do women ask for help obtaining a gun of their own, Sturby says.
“Far more regularly we talk to women who don’t feel safe because of the guns in the home,” she says. “Particularly women who’ve been threatened with firearms.”
Sturby lauded Monday’s ruling, but she says in many jurisdictions, the law it upholds lacks teeth.
“It’s important to have the gun laws in place, the types of restriction the Supreme Court upheld today, but it’s also important to have local procedures in place to be able to enforce those,” she says.
Too often, she says, there’s no follow-up to make sure a convicted abuser no longer has guns.
Elle Moxley is a reporter for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.
