Protecting Domestic Violence Victims from Gun Violence

POLICY RESOLUTION PROTECTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS FROM GUN VIOLENCE

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has been one of the deadliest states over the last 10 years with 12,941 gun deaths from 2001 through 2010 – the fourth most gun deaths of all 50 states and where American women are 11 times more likely to be murdered with guns than women in other high income countries, and

WHEREAS, gun violence is a public health issue identified in the 2013 New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. David Hemnway, Ph.D. and Dr. Matthew Miller, M.D., and

WHEREAS, the firearms industry is not regulated by the Consumer Products Safety Act thus denying citizens the right to access data necessary to make informed decisions on gun safety, and

WHEREAS, the presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent and 54% of women killed with guns are killed by intimate partners or family members, and

WHEREAS, 57% of mass shootings involve domestic violence, clearly requiring Pennsylvania women seeking protection from abuse orders (even temporary orders) to ask judges to order the abuser to give up their firearms or prevent them from buying a gun while the order is in effect, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Business & Professional Women’s Federation of Pennsylvania publically recognize the need for firearms to come under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Products Safety Commission or a federal agency specifically charged with collecting and integrating ALL data related to gun crimes that presently remain unavailable for public health purposes, and be it further

RESOLVED, That Business & Professional Women’s Federation of Pennsylvania support existing groups such as Moms Demand Action who work to prevent gun violence, and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania require every gun buyer to pass a criminal background check that also includes checks for current and past protection from abuse orders, which should automatically include a written restriction that an abuser cannot own or buy a gun while the order is in effect, and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to every state legislator in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Adopted unanimously by Central Montgomery County BPW on Thursday, October 16, 2014

Adopted unanimously by District Eleven at Fall District Meeting on Saturday, October 25, 2014

Adopted by the Pennsylvania Federation of Business and Professional Women at their 95th Annual Convention, Saturday, June 13, 2015