The family of a Connecticut woman killed by her estranged husband in 2014, are pushing for a national law to keep guns out of the hands of people with temporary restraining orders against them.
A Connecticut family is pushing for stricter national domestic violence laws following their own personal tragedy.
The Lori Jackson Survivor Protection Act is already law in Connecticut. If it passes on a national level, it will close a loophole that allows people under a temporary restraining order to legally purchase a gun.
Merry Jackson and her daughter Lori were shot by Lori’s estranged husband in Oxford in 2014. Merry survived, but Lori died. Since then, the family has fought for changes.
“Her estranged husband was on a temporary protective order,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “In fact, a hearing on a permanent protective order was scheduled for the day after her murder.”
“If we could save a life it would mean so much to me,” said Merry Jackson said.
Blumenthal said the Lori Jackson Survivor Protection Act is now part of the Violence Against Women Act up for renewal and currently pending before the US Senate.
“VAWA expired,” Blumenthal said. “It has to be re-authorized and by the way it would do a lot to help domestic violence survivors by providing in Connecticut $3.6 million every year for counseling, shelters, legal aid.”
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VAWA was first passed in 1994 and been renewed three times. Karen Jarmoc with the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence said if VAWA doesn’t reauthorized soon, there is looming uncertainty surrounding vital services.
“In the state of Connecticut nearly 40,000 individuals come to domestic violence organizations a year for help,” she said.
