A struggle between the right to bear arms versus the protection of domestic violence victims is now under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court. On Tuesday [November 7], the High Court heard arguments for and against keeping a federal law that bans a person from having a gun if they are under a restraining order.
Britney Green had a definite reaction. Green is the section chief of the Domestic Violence Special Victims Unit in the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office. Green says it’s important for people to remember why a restraining order was put in place for that person. “We see instances where offenders have physically attacked victims. Or they are stalking their victims, going to their places of employment,” as Green adds, “going to their churches, certainly to the victim’s home.” Green says a judge places an offender under a protective order because the person [who cannot have a gun under the law in question] is considered a danger to someone else.
Research by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, reveals more than half of all intimate partner homicides are committed with guns. The same research also reveals that a woman is 5-times more likely to be murdered when her abuser has access to a gun. Green explains why domestic violence is a different kind of crime. “[I]t’s different because the offender knows what the victim is doing, when the victim is going to be doing it, and where that victim will be.”
There are countless 2nd Amendment supporters in this region of the country. One gun rights supporter is Paul Murray, a former Bossier City gun range owner and firearms instructor. Murray says he has strong and conflicting feelings about gun rights versus public safety, “It depends on what the reason for that restraining order is. My heart says ‘no, I don’t want that law.’ But if there’s a reason, you know, a good reason it’d be up to the jury and judge to decide.”
For 15 years, Murray owned Shooters USA, at one time the only indoor shooting range in Northwest Louisiana. People came there for everything from target practice to courses on concealed carry permits to personal gun handling courses and gun sales. “Shooters,” as the regulars called it, also served as a convenient spot for gun owners and enthusiasts to talk.
Murray still reflects on one customer in particular. “A guy bought a gun, had it for a few months and he even came to my range to practice. And I found out that he ended-up shooting his spouse.” In all his years at Shooters, Murray only remembers a few times when his instincts kicked-in with a gun buying customer. “It was just a rare occasion and I said, I don’t know what, at that precise moment, what tipped me off to [his conclusion] ‘you don’t want to do this.’ Just a gut feeling I had. I can’t tell ya…exact words they said, or whatever; Just the way they handled themselves.” Murray listened to those instincts of his and did not sell the firearm on those very rare occasions.
A decision by the Supreme Court is expected by early summer of 2024.
Anyone needing help can call the domestic violence hotline at:
(318) 226-5015 or 1 (888) 411-1333.
