Curbing a Hall of Shame : Bill on Wilson’s desk aims to reduce firearm murders in domestic disputes

There is a burgeoning hall of shame in this state: Californians, too often women, slain by their domestic partners. In Los Angeles County, 40% of all 911 emergency calls are related to domestic violence. Statewide, police responded to more than 1 million calls involving domestic violence in the last five years.

Some of those calls came too late. Half of all female homicide victims are killed by husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends or ex-boyfriends; 206 women were killed in domestic disputes in California in 1992.

Because firearms and anger are an especially volatile mix in the home, a bill now on Gov. Pete Wilson’s desk could go some way toward reducing domestic mayhem.

Existing law bars people under a domestic-violence restraining order from legally buying a gun. Trouble is, the local officials who issue those orders have been unable to coordinate with other officials to prevent those under a restraining order issued in one county from, say, purchasing a weapon in another. SB 1278, sponsored by Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), would strengthen enforcement of this law by requiring local police agencies to notify the state Justice Department when a restraining order had been issued.

SB 1278 would also go a step further to protect against a person with a history of domestic violence. If, at the request of a threatened domestic partner, the court made a special finding that a person was likely to use a firearm in further acts of violence, a judge could require that person to temporarily relinquish any guns already owned. Police officers called to the scene of a domestic incident already have the authority to seize weapons in plain sight that they believe might be used harmfully. This bill allows victims to make a separate court request. If a person ordered by a court to relinquish a gun failed to store it with a police agency during the life of the restraining order, that person could be arrested.

The Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office, the California Police Chiefs’ Assn. and many local law enforcement agencies support this reasonable measure. It deserves Gov. Wilson’s support too.