Women deserve domestic abuse law

On Valentine’s Day, I joined dozens of other Kansans at the State Capitol to ask our lawmakers to help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

The Kansas House had already unanimously passed House Bill 2145, a bill that would do just that, and as we spoke with state senators and delivered Valentine’s cards, we urged them to do the same. That day was important and empowering for everyone there, but for me it was also personal.

In 2009, my daughter Tyesha was shot and killed by the father of her children. Determined to keep her children and herself safe, Tyesha went through the hard work and stress of getting a protective order against the father of her children. Despite the order, Tyesha felt she had to move away in order to protect her family. But she never had the chance.

On Oct. 13, 2009, as a friend helped her pack, Tyesha’s former partner entered her home and shot and killed them both. My beautiful daughter had her life stolen, my granddaughters were robbed of their mother, and I was left to pick up the pieces.

Since that horrible night, I have learned that tragedies like the one my family experienced are disturbingly common. In an average month, 50 American women are shot to death by a current or former partner. Many others are shot but survive.

Women in the U.S. are 16 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries, making the U.S. the most dangerous country in the developed world when it comes to gun violence against women. Sadly, domestic violence affects thousands of Kansas families each year. Nearly three out of every five domestic violence homicides in our state involves a firearm.

Despite this, state law in Kansas still gives domestic abusers easy access to guns, making it more difficult for law enforcement in our state to protect vulnerable families. While most states have laws that prohibit dangerous domestic abusers from having guns, Kansas does not. Lawmakers have the opportunity to fix that by passing HB 2145.

House Bill 2145 has strong support from our Kansas law enforcement community and from Kansas representatives from both parties. The Kansas House passed this common-sense bill by a 120-0 vote, and it’s time for the Senate to do the same.

No family should have to suffer the way mine did, but unfortunately, our story is far too common. That’s why when my daughter was killed, I promised that I would fight for her memory and to protect other women, including my granddaughters.

This is the work I was doing at the State Capitol on Valentine’s Day, joining other Kansas Moms Demand Action volunteers in urging our senators to pass House Bill 2145, and it’s the work I’ll continue to do as more and more Kansans and Americans join the movement for common-sense gun laws.

It’s too late to save Tyesha’s life, but our leaders have the opportunity to save other lives here in Kansas. The Kansans I know believe we should do more to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and I ask our state senators to show they do, too.