Killings prove need for domestic violence bill

An ex with a problem. And access to a gun. It’s a deadly combination. The House needs to take action now.

State Rep. Tom Killion has seen it all before.

So have any number of law enforcement officers.

An ex with a problem. And access to a gun. It’s a deadly combination.

It happened again last week in Chester County. And again, it had deadly results.

Catherine Christian spent 24 years on the receiving end of Bruce Rogal’s violent rage. After decades of abuse, she got a protection from abuse order. Last week her divorce was finally granted. As part of the settlement she was awarded the house she once shared with her husband in West Bradford Township.

That apparently pushed Rogal over the edge.

The next day he showed up at the home, pulled into the driveway where Christian was changing the oil in her car, and opened fire. None of the bullets hit her, although several did strike neighboring houses. Christian fled to the safety of a neighbor’s house.

Rogal was not done. For some reason he then drove to the Bellingham senior living center in East Goshen, where his elderly residents lived. Rogal shot them both to death and then fled once again.

He became the target of a seven-hour police manhunt that covered several states.

When state troopers spotted the SUV he was driving in Chester County, a chase pursued. Rogal returned to his ex’s house and slammed his SUV into the home.

He was found dead inside his car.

Rogal could be considered the poster boy for Senate Bill 501, which Killion co-sponsored. One of the things Killion’s bill would do is get guns out of the hands of those who have final protection from abuse orders issued against them.

In addition, it would mandate that the guns be surrendered to law enforcement or a licensed gun dealer – not a friend or family member as the current law allows.

Too often that loophole allows easy access to those who have supposedly “surrendered” their guns.

Killion’s bill also would mandate the guns be turned over within 24 hours, as opposed to the 60 days allowed under current law.

The measure passed the Senate, but as is too often the case with crucial legislation in Harrisburg, it got bogged down in the House.

A few weeks back, a delegation of local House members – both Democrats and Republicans – as well as domestic abuse officials rallied for the House Bill 2060, which mirrors Killion’s Senate legislation. That push came in the wake of the story of an Upper Chichester woman who was shot four times by her husband during a night of rage and domestic violence – all of which played out in front of their three children.

It didn’t take long for tragedy to strike again.

According to a transcript of the hearing on her request for a protection order, Christian was all too familiar with Rogal’s rants and physical abuse, which included choking her, slamming her into walls, knocking her to the floor and a host of physical and verbal threats.

Rogal had surrendered his weapons after the protection from abuse order was in place. Eventually it lapsed. Christian was granted a divorce. Rogal boiled over a day later. And it is clear he once again had access to guns.

On Monday Killion again joined other legislators, as well as groups such as Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Ceasefire PA and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence in a rally outside the state Capitol in Harrisburg to again urge the house to take action.

They don’t have much time.

The House will be in session for precious few days before heading back home to take up their re-election campaign. Every House member is on the November ballot.

In the meantime, the “Protect Pennsylvania Families” rally is hoping to push the House into action, so that the circle of domestic violence can be broken.

Too many Pennsylvania families are living in fear.

It’s too late for the parents of Bruce Rogal. It was almost too late for his wife.

The House needs to take action now.