TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – According to the Texas Council on Family Violence, domestic violence is increasing across the state and the number of women killed by an intimate partner has nearly doubled.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an existing ruling. It states that a protective order can bar someone who’s accused of domestic violence from owning a firearm.
A ruling that will “save lives,” is what Jeremy Flowers expressed. He’s been helping domestic violence victims at the East Texas Crisis Center for nearly 20 years.
He understands the danger of a gun being in the hands of an abuser.
“Just the presence alone of a firearm in an intimate partner violence relationship increases the likelihood of homicide by 500%,” said Flowers.
He praised the Supreme Court ruling when it came down in June.
“This ruling prevents perpetrators of domestic violence [from having] a firearm.”
In an 8 to 1 decision, the high court ruled that a protective order can bar someone accused of domestic violence from owning a firearm.
The center of the case involved Zackey Rahimi, a Texas man who claimed it was unconstitutional to restrict people under a domestic violence protective order from having access to guns.
However, domestic violence advocates say his history with guns made him dangerous.
“In the case of Rehimi, he was actually involved in multiple shootings this individually obviously pose a threat to society,” said Holli Bruce the CEO of the Women’s Center of East Texas in Longview.
She says the ruling only applies to people proven in a court of law to pose a credible threat to someone’s safety.
“It prioritizes the safety of survivors of domestic violence over the right of a dangerous abuser to possess a firearm,” said Bruce.
This ruling will continue to protect and reduce the risks of victims being killed.
“If we can remove those firearms from known abusers, we are increasing the likelihood survivors will survive,” said Bruce.
For Flowers, this ruling is an opportunity to have difficult conversations over violence against women.
“Men have a collective responsibility to hold other men accountable, foster a sense of masculinity that doesn’t allow for violence against women in the first place,” said Flowers.
This case was the U.S. Supreme Court’s first major firearms ruling since 2022, that’s when they established a new standard for determining if gun regulations are constitutional.
If you want to learn about the services the East Texas Crisis Center in Tyler has, click here.
If you want to learn more about the Women’s Center of East Texas, click here.
The National Domestic Hotline is (800) – 799 – 7233, it’s a 24/7 service.
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Publish date : 2024-07-15 09:05:00
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