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http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/04-02-03_z1_news_15.html
Bill would disarm batterers
April 2, 2003
By Carole Carlson / Post-Tribune staff writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Legislation that prohibits domestic batterers from possessing firearms moved a step closer to becoming law Tuesday.
By a 6-3 vote, a Senate committee passed the bill to the full Senate for final consideration. The bill has already passed the House.
No one spoke in opposition to the bill which would close a loophole in Indiana law that conflicts with a federal gun law.
An Indianapolis lawmaker, who told the committee she was a former battered woman, urged the committee to support the bill authored by Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond.
“For a short time, I was in a violent marriage,†said Rep. Caroline Mays. “One time he grabbed me by the neck and said he was going to kill me.â€
Mays said using a firearm can be very impersonal. “It’s an emotional time and things happen very quickly.â€
Mays said her former husband killed himself with a gun.
Federal law prevents people convicted of domestic battery by a state court from possessing firearms.
But an Indiana judge ruled last year that if those convicted have other civil rights restored such as the right to vote, they’re also entitled to possess a firearm.
The judge made the ruling because Indiana law doesn’t have a statute on the firearms issue.
The committee approved an amendment that restores the right to possess a gun with a judge’s approval after five years.
Steve Johnson, director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Association, supported the bill.
“I think it’s one of the most important pieces of legislation you’ll pass,†he said.
Lisa Judd, of the Marion County prosecutor’s office, said there’s a large rate of recidivism among domestic batterers.
“Over time it becomes more and more lethal,†she said.
Fort Wayne police Capt. Dottie Davis said police officers are frustrated because they can’t take guns away from batterers.
Davis said in past three years, 66 percent of women murdered by batterers were killed by a gun.
“It’s very frustrating when you know they have a weapon and there’s nothing you can do,†she told the panel.
Reporter Carole Carlson can be reached at 317-631-7400 or by e-mail at [email protected].
