RADFORD, Va. – More than one in four homicides in the U.S. are domestic violence-related. Though a new gun law in the Commonwealth aims to change this, some advocates still question the law.
Sixty percent of intimate partner homicide victims are killed with firearms and 78% of those incidents happen in the home, according to the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance.
Now, a new gun law, which went into effect on Thursday, prohibits people convicted of domestic violence offenses from purchasing, possessing or transporting a firearm for three years after their date of conviction.
However, an advocate for domestic violence survivors questions the effectiveness of this new law and wonders how it will be enforced.
“Who is going to be responsible to make sure that guns are no longer in that house?” said New River Valley Women’s Center Sexual Violence Programs Coordinator Patty McComas Hall. “When somebody is convicted is it going to be the court’s responsibility to ensure that gun has gone to a safe place. Is it going to be law enforcement’s responsibility? What is that going to look like?”
McComas Hall said the law is a step in the right direction but hopes it will expand to account for other domestic violence cases that include roommates, siblings and children.