RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Governor Terry McAuliffe wants to take guns away from anyone accused of domestic violence if a protective order has been taken out against that person.
As the law stands right now, if a protective order is taken out against an alleged abuser, they’re not allowed to get new guns but they can keep the old ones they already have. The Governor wants to make the existing law stricter by forcing the alleged abusers to turn-in their guns.
“Domestic abusers should not own firearms. If you have a protective order, you should have a gun taken out of your possession, that to me is basic common sense,” says Governor McAuliffe. “It is time to stand up and do the right thing here in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
The Governor has pushed for this change before, but the General Assembly has rejected the idea. Gun rights advocates say they understand why lawmakers have rejected the proposal in the past.
“Somebody who is determined to kill their own spouse, they don’t care what the rules are. Especially If they are willing to kill themselves after they kill their spouse, there’s nothing you can do to stop them,” says Philip Van Cleave, the president of the Virginia Citizens Defesne League. Van Cleave says not only do these individuals deserve due process in the legal system before their guns are taken away, but they should also have the right to protect themselves inside their homes.
“If a person has their guns taken away then the spouse that applied for the protective order can go over and murder them once all their guns are gone. And it can be used abusively, often in divorces, everybody gets a restraining order , well then, anybody that’s a gun owner is automatically punished.”
Under the governor’s new proposal, there’s a recommendation to prohibit a person who is named as an alleged abuser in a protective order from owning a gun. They will not be allowed to transport a gun if they’ve been convicted of a felony, the courts would be required to inform the alleged abuser about the legal restrictions on firearms that they will be facing and police would be permitted to enter one’s homes and remove firearms if they believe there is probable cause the alleged abuser will use the firearm.
The governor says he’ll present this plan to lawmakers once again.
