REACH Executive Director Amarely Gutierrez Oliver recently wrote an article for The Provider's Council highlighting the importance of gun safety legislation for domestic violence survivors. You can read a full transcript of the article below or click the provided link to read a full digital PDF of The Provider's newspaper issue featuring the article.
The Provider Newspaper, September 2024
On July 25, Gov. Maura Healey signed into law what has been described as one of the most significant pieces of gun safety legislation in Massachusetts history: An Act Modernizing Firearms (H.4885). The bill seeks to modernize the state’s existing firearm laws by addressing new and evolving gun technologies and trends such as “ghost guns” (self-made guns which are unregistered and thus harder to trace) and 3D-printed guns. Other components of the bill include enhancements to the “red flag law” that enables courts to remove firearms from the possession of dangerous individuals, and the addition of schools, government buildings and polling places to the list of public places where guns are prohibited.
You might be wondering why a domestic violence agency is dedicating so much time to talking about gun legislation, but it’s because gun safety and access to firearms tie heavily into the work we do to protect survivors. According to statistics shared by Everytown for Gun Safety, roughly 70 women in the United States are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month. Gun violence also has a disproportionately severe impact on Black and Latina women (who make up a large portion of REACH’s survivor network) as well as members of the LGTBQ+ community. The lingering trauma of gun violence inflicted by abusers also ripples out to affect those who witness it such as children, family members, close friends and co-workers.
Of course, the sad reality is that we don’t need statistics to show how much the intersection of domestic abuse and gun violence affects local Massachusetts communities, and why gun control legislation is so vital. In early August, a young woman from Waltham named Zharia Wilcox-Ellis was shot and killed, with the chief suspect in the shooting being her ex-girlfriend who had a history of physically abusing her. In May, a 16-year-old girl from Acton was killed by her abusive stepfather in a murder-suicide. In December of 2023, a Dover resident with a history of domestic abuse named Rakesh Kamal used an unregistered firearm to murder his wife and teenage daughter before killing himself.
This is why gun legislation means so much to us. It’s more than just numbers on a page or cautionary stories that we tell. It’s happening now, all around us, and with alarming frequency. Legislation such as An Act Modernizing Firearms is certainly a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, not everyone sees such legislation as a good thing. Mere days after Gov. Healey signed the bill, The Gun Owners’ Action League, a local state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, decried the new law as an attack on their second amendment rights and filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law’s new licensing provisions, with the ultimate objective of having the law repealed.
To her credit, Gov. Healey has stated she will staunchly oppose any efforts to have the new law repealed, claiming that it already has widespread support from local law enforcement agencies. The new law is bolstered by national legislation such as the United States vs. Rahimi case, which prohibits domestic abusers under a restraining order from possessing firearms and was recently upheld in a Supreme Court ruling. However, for every survivor-supporting law that does pass, there is uncertainty about whether other pieces of legislation, such as the Massachusetts VOCA Bridge, which is intended to provide $20 million in essential funding to victim service agencies in the state, are fully effective or if some needs are falling through the cracks.
Domestic abusers having ready access to firearms can seem like an insurmountable problem at times, but federal and state legislation that blocks abusers’ access to guns has been proven to save lives. As we work to stay ahead of rapidly changing gun trends and practices, it’s important to remember why national and state-level gun control policies are so important. It’s not just about protecting survivors in the moment – it’s about laying a foundation of prevention that will protect survivors for many years to come.
