‘A matter of life and death’
Conn. Dems face ‘boyfriend’ obstacle in push to block guns for domestic abusers
WASHINGTON — Early one morning in 2014, an Oxford man shot and killed his estranged wife at her parent’s home, a day before he was scheduled to appear in court.
Lori Jackson, 32, had a temporary restraining order against her husband Scott Gellatly, that didn’t stop Gellatly from being able to buy the gun he killed her with. Federal law only blocks people subject to permanent restraining orders from buying weapons.
Connecticut Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Rep. Jim Himes have been pushing for years for Congress to change this law and close what they say is a loophole that endangers victims of domestic violence.
On Tuesday, they reintroduced the Lori Jackson Domestic Violence Survivor Act, which would prevent people under a temporary restraining order from purchasing or possessing a gun and broadens the definition of a domestic violence victim to include people in dating relationships. The legislation could get a vote in the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives as soon as Wednesday as part of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
But closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole” is also one of the major sticking points that has thwarted the re-authorization of VAWA since it expired in February 2019. It’s inclusion in VAWA could hinder the bill’s passage in the Senate — proving a hurdle to reauthorizing legislation that contains key funding and policies for protecting domestic violence survivors and other women. Without VAWA passage, future federal funding for domestic violence shelters and other measures are uncertain.
The National Rifle Association has previously opposed the “boyfriend loophole” provision claiming it is too broad and would unfairly strip some people of their guns.
“Speaker Pelosi and anti-gun lawmakers chose to insert gun control provisions into this bill in 2019 to pit pro-gun lawmakers against it so that they can falsely and maliciously claim these lawmakers don’t care about women,” said Jason Ouimet, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. “This is Washington at its filthiest.”
Connecticut Democrats say the provision is critical to protecting domestic violence victims when they are most at risk.
“At a time when the rage is greatest and the danger is highest, after an intimate partner has said she is leaving or it is over, the abuser can still buy a gun even with a temporary protective order,” Blumenthal said. “Closing this loophole is truly a matter of life and death.”
Democrat and Republican senators have been trying to negotiate a compromise deal to revive VAWA but talks stalled in September 2019. It’s not clear that the House version of the bill that may pass Wednesday can clear the Senate, where it will need 10 Republican votes to reach President Joe Biden’s desk.
“Certainly we ran into hiccups with some of the gun issues and that’s a big one for a number of us — stripping away people’s constitutional rights is not something that we should be doing,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who is working on VAWA negotiations on behalf of Republicans and is a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault. “Hopefully by combining forces we can come up with the 60 votes needed and pass a good, modernized bill that will work for the Senate hopefully than the House bill does.”
Blumenthal is part of the a group of senators working with Judiciary Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on a Senate deal, a position he hopes will help him keep the Lori Jackson provision in. There’s bipartisan interest in a deal, but some division over changes each party seeks.
The Violence Against Women Act is a 1994 law that supports investigation and prosecution of domestic and sexual violence crimes against women. At the time, the law championed by then-senator Biden. It’s been updated and reauthorized three times with bipartisan support to add new programs to protect the elderly, prevent rape and protect victims of trafficking.
“When I got to Congress a decade ago, VAWA was one of the least political, least partisan pieces of legislation we would consider,” Murphy said. “It is now become politicized because Republicans are not as interested as Democrats in protecting women from gun violence and also protecting immigrants and migrants from domestic violence.”
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, another senator working on the legislation, said Tuesday it’s “critically important” to pass VAWA and she discussed the matter with Biden recently.
“Last year, things got things got derailed with VAWA because gun control,” she said. “I really hope that the effort will be to, to try to find the level of support.”
One in four women and one in nine men experience severe physical or sexual violence or stalking by their intimate partner — like a boyfriend, partner or husband — in their lifetime, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
“According to the Connecticut Domestic Violence Fatality Review Task Force between 2000 and 2018, 478 people were killed by an intimate partner in Connecticut,” Liza Andrews, director of Public Policy and Communications at the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said. “86 percent of those killed were women and one third were current or former dating partners. Firearms remain the single most common weapon in those homicides.”
State laws bar people subject to a restraining order from possessing guns and respondents must surrender them within 24 hours. Gellatly bought his gun legally in Virginia, Merry Jackson, the mother of Lori Jackson, said.
“Lori was with us for five weeks after she left her estranged husband. In all that time, we felt threatened,” said Merry Jackson, who was also shot and injured by Gellatly. “We’d love to see an end to this and we could save another family from facing the tragedy that we faced.”
During the pandemic, domestic violence has worsened as victims and their abusers have often been stuck at home together, more isolated from help than normal and dealing with heightened financial, health and emotional stressers.