Extreme Risk Protection Orders can save lives in domestic violence cases.
Fellow Advocate,
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Our next Deadly by Design storyteller, Lynnette grew up in a home marred by domestic violence that eventually turned fatal.
Lynnette’s father lorded over her family, imposing what he called “correction” when he lost control. As Lynnette says, “we learned later on that it was domestic violence”
When her mother finally worked up the courage to leave, Lynnette’s father pulled out a gun, intending to take back his perceived control. He shot her in the leg. But when Lynnette’s father saw the bullet pierce his wife’s thigh, he lost all control, pointed the gun at himself, and ended his life.
Like many domestic abusers, Lynnette’s father was a complicated man who loved his family but never learned a safe way to show it. He kept guns for protection, but as many of us know, guns in the home increase the likelihood of deadly violence, rather than diminishing it.1
If Pennsylvania had an ERPO law on the books, Lynnette’s family could have petitioned a judge to temporarily remove her father’s firearms. As Lynnette said, that would have been, “absolutely an act of love.”
