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SEPTEMBER 2022 NEWS

Domestic Violence: Stats, Stories & the Law

GGS Monthly Meeting & Program
Monday, September 19
(Note change in meeting date due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday)

4:00 – 5:30 pm
Colonial Church in Prairie Village
7039 Mission Road

You may think domestic violence occurs mostly between intimate partners, but it can also permeate entire families, including children. And when firearms are involved, the violence can become deadly.

In anticipation of October’s National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Grandparents has invited two professionals to share what’s being done locally and at the state level to help solve this pervasive problem.

Annie Struby, a former Legal Aid lawyer who represented survivors of domestic violence and now coordinates the Rose Brooks Center’s Blueprint for Safety program, will describe the domestic violence shelter’s services and its collaboration with the City of Kansas City, MO, the KC Police Department and others. She’ll also share stories of domestic violence survivors who have helped shape policies to help future victims recover.

In addition, Missouri State Sen. Lauren Arthur of Kansas City will describe her efforts to pass meaningful legislation about domestic violence perpetrators in general and specifically to curtail their access to firearms.

The incidence of domestic violence is staggering. Consider these findings from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence:

  • An abusive partner’s access to a firearm makes it five times more likely that a woman will be killed.
  • Domestic violence assaults involving a gun are 12 times more likely to result in death than those involving other weapons or bodily force.

And even when acts of domestic violence are non-fatal, the statistics are alarming:

  • Nearly 1 million women alive today report being shot or shot at by an intimate partner.
  • In nearly two-thirds of cases when a gun was present in a home where an abusive partner and victim lived, the abusive partner used the firearm against the victim, usually threatening to injure or kill her.

It’s important to understand the role firearms play in domestic violence. Read the entire report here, including overviews of states with laws regarding domestic violence already in place: Domestic Violence & Firearms.

Come early for some socializing and bring a friend, neighbor or colleague to learn more.

Lock It For Love Feted with New Friends at August Meeting

With more than 5,000 free gun locks distributed, Grandparents’ Lock It For Love program celebrated its fifth anniversary last month during a festive afternoon attended by many of our regular attendees, plus 17 new guests.

GGS board member Barb McNeile, who chairs the LIFL committee, acknowledged and thanked the 88 trained volunteers who distributed locks at 184 different community events during the past five years. Special recognition was given to volunteers with 20 or more hours staffing those events. Beginning with Donna Euston, who has given 75 hours to the program, they included Chris Glenski, Jan Brunks, Ann Hall, Gail Roberson, Janey Pryor, Gloria Hiller, Gerald Hiller, Peggy Zilm, Julie Young, Carla Oppenheimer, Al Frisby, Patti Regan, Rebecca Mathews, Jim Regan, Ann Weaver, Linda Odell, Larry Euston, Lona Harris, Barb Dater, Judy Sherry, and Judie Becker. Volunteers pictured below.

This recent tragedy reinforces the importance of gun locks: One-year-old dies after shooting himself in the head with unsecured gun.

The August program was in anticipation of September’s designation as National Suicide Awareness Month. Speakers were adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Shayla Sullivant of Children’s Mercy Hospital and Steve Lopes, a trained crisis volunteer in Lawrence with the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. View the entire meeting here.

Left: Judy Sherry presenting a plant to Barb McNeile, recognizing her role in planting the idea of LIFL and making it grow. Right: Dr. Shayla Sullivant & Steve Lopes modeling their “thank you for speaking” caps.
 

Summer Sees Some Legislative Progress

We’ve seen some successes on the national scene:

  • August: the ATF’s new ghost gun rule took effect last month. New regulations require that parts used to manufacture ghost guns be serialized for identification and that purchasers undergo a background check.
     
  • June: for the first time in nearly three decades, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed gun reform legislation that President Biden signed into law. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act includes billions of dollars in funding for mental health services, state red flag laws and crisis intervention programs, community violence prevention and school safety. The law also includes several provisions that relate more directly to firearms and who can purchase them.
     
  • June: after a marathon session, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would ban assault weapons for the first time since 2004. That’s when a 10-year assault weapons ban passed during the Clinton administration expired. Several studies have shown mass shooting deaths declined during the 10 years the ban was in effect. 

    The House-passed bill criminalizes the knowing sale, manufacture, transfer, possession or importation of many types of semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. The ban does not affect 2,258 legitimate hunting and sporting rifles and shotguns identified by specific make and model; any weapon lawfully possessed at the date of the bill’s enactment; any firearm manually operated by a bolt, pump, lever or slide action; assault weapons used by military plus law enforcement and retired law enforcement or antique weapons.
     

  • Now: the ban moves to the Senate as SB 736, where its passage is unlikely. Despite that, here’s how you can help bring attention to this important bill

    Contact U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and ask him to bypass committee hearings and bring the bill to the floor for a vote this month. Using this strategy, voters would know by the November mid-term elections which senators supported or opposed the assault weapons ban.

    Calling is easy, effective and takes little time. Sen. Schumer’s Washington, D.C office phone number is 202-224-6542. Here’s one suggestion for a message:

    “I support gun reform and urge you to bring Senate bill 736 banning assault weapons to the floor for a vote when you return this month. The public supports the ban and voters should know where their senators stand.”

    Grandparents for Gun Safety has been involved in the Newtown Action Alliance’s weekly “Lunch and Lobby” calling sessions supporting common ground gun legislation, including the Assault Weapons Ban. We are partnering with the Alliance at the Monday September 12 session, and our logo will be included with those of other partners. It would be great to have some of our members on the call to be introduced. Here is the link to join the call.

    If you’d like to find out how to get involved in Lunch and Lobby, contact us

Membership Spotlight: Lynne Bock

Fourth of July began pleasantly for Lynne Bock. She and her husband David were on a morning walk when their daughter called from Highland Park, IL. “We’re safe,” she said, and Lynne asked, “Safe from what?”

She’d soon find out: seven people were killed, and more than two dozen injured after a lone shooter fired from a downtown rooftop into Highland Park’s holiday parade. Lynne’s 5-year-old granddaughter was on her bike with a group of campers waiting on a side street to turn onto the parade route.

“At first when I heard from my daughter, I was so relieved and felt so fortunate,” Lynne said. “Then I got angry.”

And got active. The Bocks, who live in Leawood, joined Grandparents that same month, and Lynne began working the phones. While participating in the Monday Lunch and Lobby sessions, she called U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House representatives, 20 at a time, urging them to reinstate the federal ban on assault-style weapons. Her calling inspired friends to call. Even her 96-year-old mother, who had never called an elected official before, made calls. The ban narrowly passed the House, 217-213 with little chance in the Senate. Lynne, however, will keep calling.

“I’m not going to throw up my hands and say nothing will change,” said Lynne, who has three other grandchildren. “If I can affect even one person, then I’ve made a difference, and that’s very satisfying.”

Lynne’s made a difference in other organizations, too, as a board member at Charlie’s House, a docent at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and an active member in the Parent Organization at Blue Valley North when her three children attended.

Every year, more than 600 American women are shot to death by intimate partners. That’s roughly one death every 14 hours.
 

– Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Say Their Names

Following are another 28 lives lost to firearms since our last meeting. That brings the total to 166 homicides in the metro area since January 1. We say their names while we keep true to our vision that one day everyone in our community will be safe from gun violence.
 

Mark Your Calendar

Sunday, September 11
National Grandparents Day – wear purple if you have something – it looks great with orange!
 
Monday, September 19
(Note change in meeting date due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday)
GGS Monthly Meeting and Program: Domestic Violence: Stats, Stories & The Law
4:00 to 5:30 pm
Colonial Church in Prairie Village, 7039 Mission Road
Come early, enjoy light refreshments and time to socialize. And bring a friend!

Monday, October 10
9th Annual Community Forum: Advocacy. The Time is NOW!
9:00 to 11:30 am
Colonial Church in Prairie Village, 7039 Mission Road
There is still time to support the Forum by becoming a sponsor or purchasing individual tickets. Just click here! 

Our Vision

All members of our community have the right to feel safe from gun violence.
 

Our Mission

We focus on working for solutions, educating the community and seeking common ground reform that respects the rights of gun owners and non-owners alike.

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