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Bill would close Missouri’s domestic violence loophole
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — State Rep. Del Taylor, D-St. Louis, will present a bill to the House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee Thursday, April 27 that will limit the ability of domestic abusers and stalkers to possess firearms.
“This safety measure will prohibit those found to present a clear harm to others from possessing deadly weapons,” Taylor said.
House Bill 1135 would prohibit order of protection respondents from purchasing or possessing firearms while the order of protection is in place. Respondents to orders of protection or those convicted of domestic violence found to knowingly possess a firearm would commit the offense of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Taylor’s bill would bring Missouri in line with federal law, which contains these prohibitions. Currently, provisions in House Bill 85 (2021) punish Missouri law enforcement from enforcing federal gun laws, so domestic abusers and stalkers have an unmitigated ability to possess firearms.
This loophole puts victims of domestic violence, especially women, in danger. The Justice Department estimates more than 3 million women in the U.S. are abused every year, and more than 1,600 are killed by their abusers. The most dangerous time for women in an abusive relationship is in the two weeks after they leave when they are 70 times more likely to be killed.
Firearms play a disproportionate role in that violence. The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy says firearms are “the most common weapon used in intimate partner homicides” that the “presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that a woman will be killed.”
Taylor believes this bill will see bipartisan support as it was previously offered last year by former state Rep. Ron Hicks, a Republican from St. Charles County.
“I thank Chair Lane Roberts and the committee for hearing this bill that will help us protect some of our most vulnerable Missourians,” Taylor said.
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