Stop Gun Violence - Make Domestic Abusers Surrender Guns

Domestic abusers in New York just lost their right to bear arms, period. After frustration with the Trump Administration's slow to nonexistent efforts to combat gun violence, New York has decided to go its own way.

Gov. Cuomo, signed a bill into law that will not only ensure abusers don't get new guns — something currently regulated under federal law — but it will require domestic abusers to hand over all firearms in their possession.

The bill makes New York a member of a small club of states that strip gun ownership privileges from domestic abusers. Other states include California, Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.

These state laws are meant to keep America safer. There is a blaring link backed by years of data that connects domestic abusers with mass shootings and other killings. Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland shooter, abused his ex-girlfriend before he took the lives of 17 men and women. So did Devin Patrick Kelley who killed 26 in Texas last year. In fact, according to studies, 54% of mass shooters had committed domestic or family abuse before their crimes.

So why have so few states passed these common-sense laws?

As gun violence continues to ravage our nation and statistic after statistic identifies domestic abusers as some of the most likely culprits of deadly mass shootings, it is time for our state governments to act and join the current jurisdictions that are leading the way to break the cycle of domestic abuse and gun violence.

If you didn't see your state listed above, that means they are one of the many governments that still doesn't require that convicted abusers relinquish their weapons. And their lack of action is putting all of us in danger.

Please sign the petition and demand that the remaining 40 states strip guns from abusers.