Use common sense to beef up protection from abuse orders

Talk to many law enforcement officials, and many of them will tell you that some of the most dangerous calls they receive are domestic incidents.

Don’t believe it? Ask the friends and family of Pennsylvania State Trooper Landon Weaver. The 23-year-old was gunned down after responding to a call of a violation of a Protection From Abuse order in Huntingdon County back on Dec. 30.

A Protection From Abuse order is usually one of the first – and most important – steps a victim of abuse can take.

In 2015, more than 37,000 petitions seeking protection were filed across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Of those, 32,356 were granted temporary protection.

In the overwhelming number of cases, a PFA works as it’s supposed to, keeping a victim safe from someone who has threatened to do them harm.

But they are not fool-proof. And often police lament that they wish they could have done more when domestic cases take a deadly turn.

In 2016 102 residents of Pennsylvania lost their lives as a result of domestic violence – 56 women and 46 men – including two police officers.

Of those deaths, 56 percent were killed with a gun.

A PFA is a requisite first step, but Pennsylvania needs to do more.

Law enforcement officials – too often caught in the middle of these nasty situations – know all too well the shortcomings of a protection from abuse order, especially when it comes to keeping a gun out of the hands of someone who is named in a PFA.

“I have stood over the dead bodies of women who have been killed,” said Tom Hogan, Chester County district attorney, at a press conference this week. “I have sent the offenders to prison for their rest of their lives and I have listened to the children cry as they realize they face life the life they face without any parents.”

Now four Republican state senators want to alter that deadly path. They held a press conference to roll out four significant potential upgrades to a protection from abuse order in Pennsylvania.

Without question the most important – and most controversial – is Senate Bill 501. Sponsored by Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, it would eliminate a crucial loophole in the current law that allows those with an active PFA filed against them, or a conviction of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, to do an end-around on one of the key aspects: Getting any guns out of their possession.

Under current law the person who is the target of a PFA has the option of giving a gun to a third party – such as a friend or relative – for safekeeping. Under Killion’s bill, that same firearm would have to be surrendered to a county sheriff, law enforcement, or a licensed firearms dealer.

It doesn’t take much to see the danger in allowing these people to pass off guns to those they know – knowing all too well they remain in easy reach.

You don’t have to convince the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence or the Joint State Government Commission. Last November the state panel suggested doing exactly as Killion’s bill suggests – noting it would eliminate a “blind spot” in the state’s PFA laws.

Peg Dierkers, the executive director of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, pointed out the loophole keeps guns within “easy” reach, and that threat in turn allows them to continue to “abuse and control the victim.”

Of course, any time you talk about taking away someone’s guns, you’re bound to take fire. Opponents point out cases where false allegations are made against a person, including women, who would then be required to relinquish the gun they use for protection.

“Every day victims of domestic abuse are seeking protection from abusers,” Killion said. “Yet, we continue to experience a senseless loss of life.”

Killion was joined by another Delco legislator, Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield, along with two more Republican state senators, backed by a phalanx of law enforcement officials, each of whom offered up an additional bill to strengthen and reform Pennsylvania’s domestic violence laws.

Sen. Randy Vulakovich, R-38, offered up Senate Bill 500, which would provide for accompaniment for a victim to their residence before or while their petition order is being served if the plaintiff requests such assistance.

Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-56, offered Senate Bill 449, referred to as Tierne’s Law, which would allow a local magisterial district judge in cases of domestic violence, more leeway in determining if a suspect poses a danger when determining bail.

Finally, McGarrigle gets on board with Senate Bill 502, which would allow the court to extend the terms of an existing order or issue a new citation in certain circumstances.

There is no need for a victim of domestic abuse to fall between the cracks in the shortcomings of Protection From Abuse orders.

These measures would go a long way to remedying that situation – and making life safer for victims, law enforcement, and the rest of the state as well.