Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel stopped by the Kirkbride Hall in Traverse City Thursday to talk about the connection between gun and domestic violence.
Thursday’s discussion was planned prior to Tuesday’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The discussion comes after the first year of the pandemic saw a 40% increase in domestic violence calls.
“According to the Center for American Progress the risk of death is five times greater in domestic violence situations when a gun is present,” Nessel states. “I think it’s this perfect storm of influences that came together at the same time and created this exponential rise in domestic violence cases.”
She also cited that 56% of women murdered by an intimate partner were killed by a firearm.
“Some advocate for arming victims in these situations with their own guns to increase their safety. We know that’s not a good idea,” Nessel claims.
She says cases of domestic and gun violence go hand-in-hand. Now two days after the school shooting in Texas and nearly six months after Oxford, she says the issue can be better addressed by keeping guns out of the hands of bad people.
“I don’t think the solution to stopping school shootings should be in better doors, better locks, better shatter-proof windows. It should be fewer guns. And fewer guns in the hands of the wrong people who should not have those weapons.
School districts around the state recently were able to apply for school safety grants to bolster their security. Nessel says she is visiting these districts to learn what is need to keep students safe. She even suggested tapping into the state substantial surplus to get the job done.
“I don’t want school districts to have to compete with one another for these grants. All kids in this state no matter what school district they’re in, no matter where they live. They should be entitled to the same level of protection,” Nessel says.
Nessel says either way, it’s time to take action.
“We just have to demand that our legislators, whether they are our congressional representatives or state legislators who are willing to look at reasonable gun laws, and once-and-for-all they care about their children as much as they do their guns,” Nessel states.
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