By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Local law enforcement and domestic violence services advocates are praising a new Kansas law that prohibits those convicted of domestic violence or restrained under a protection order from possessing firearms.
The law went into effect the beginning of May and also bars illegal immigrants and fugitives from possessing guns.
Jennifer Hecker, director of Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, said the law was a positive step in keeping domestic abuse survivors safe.
In 2016, the most recent year for which data was available, 19 people died in Kansas as a result of domestic violence, according to the KBI. Half of those homicides involved firearms. Seventy percent of those women who were killed died when they were actively leaving their abusers or within of the first two weeks of leaving.
Federal law already prohibits convicted domestic abusers from possessing firearms, but Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said a lack of state law created an issue with enforcement. Because the law was federal, all cases had to be prosecuted in federal court. The federal system is so overburdened with higher-level cases, the gun law was seldom prosecuted. The passage of the state law will allow violators to be prosecuted in local courts.
“I think anything we can to do in an effort by the state to prevent domestic violence and make families safer, I think we need to do those things,” Scheibler said.
Ellis County Sheriff Ed Harbin said he also supported the law. However, he noted some prohibited individuals will likely continue to own and use firearms.
Undersheriff Scott Braun noted most of the calls the department respond to involve physical altercations and not weapons. However, Harbin said when weapons are present during domestic disturbances, the incident becomes more dangerous for officers as well as victims.
Although the law affects those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, those prohibited individuals found in possession of firearms can be charged with a level 8 non-person felony, Harbin said. Under the law, law enforcement officers are allowed to confiscate the weapon as evidence and the violators can be arrested.
After five years, offenders would be able to legally own firearms again. Harbin said he thought this was reasonable for people who may have had a single incident.
Hecker said she would like to see the prohibition be longer.
Not only did the state NRA support the bill, they helped draft it. Travis Couture-Lovelady, state director with the National Rifle Association and northwest quadrant director for the Kansas State Rifle Association, worked for three years with Kansas Peace Officers Association leaders to develop the bill.
In an email Couture-Lovelady said, “This bill makes it so state law mirrors federal law to provide a more timely and efficient resolution. Rather than having to wait for the feds to handle the issue, this law now empowers state and local law enforcement to be able to handle the situation.
“This will increase efficiency and make sure that far fewer incidents fall through the cracks. We were happy to work with law enforcement to give them the tools they felt they needed to make Kansas a safer place while also making sure that the constitutional rights of Kansans were protected.”
Ed Klumpp with the Kansas Peace Officers Association said he thought the law will help protect victims.
“We surely hope all laws like this improve public safety,” he said. “Persons who have engaged in a domestic violence incident or ones who have a protection order based on a violent act have the propensity when they have a gun in their hands to engage in a higher level of crime or assault. We take that seriously. We think this law is important to public safety, and we want to do everything we can to protect domestic violence victims.”