Website Addresses Domestic Violence and Firearms

A new website seeks to help agencies and organizations work together to prioritize victim safety and address the challenges that communities face in responding to firearm-involved domestic violence. The U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women launched the National Domestic Violence and Firearms Resource Center's Safer Families, Safer Communities website. The federal Gun Control Act prohibits anyone subject to a domestic violence protective order and those who have been convicted of misdemeanor crimes against select individuals, among other classes of individuals, from purchasing, possessing, and/or receiving firearms and ammunition. The Safer Families, Safer Communities Project seeks to reduce firearm-involved domestic violence and homicide by helping communities coordinate these efforts and effectively implement and enforce firearm prohibitions across all systems. The website highlights the significance of an approach focused on addressing five key areas: criminal, civil, federal, purchase prevention and resources. Visit the website at http://www.preventdvgunviolence.org/.