Politicians and activists in Idaho are gearing up for a battle over gun-related legislation set for the upcoming 2020 session, Boise State Public Radio reports.
Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, is pushing a bill to remove guns from people convicted of abuse, having previously called for laws to temporarily prevent someone convicted of sexual battery of a person age 16 or 17 from having a gun, and to temporarily remove guns from any person convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse.
Wintrow cited a link between abuse and homicide as part of her reason for campaigning for these laws. A study from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence found "an abuser's access to a firearm increases the risk of femicide by at least 400 percent," and "domestic violence incidents involving firearms are 12 times more likely to result in death than incidents involving other weapons or bodily force."
"Just look at the numbers of fatalities in our state in the last year-and-a-half and it's pretty high," she said.
Annie Hightower, the director of law and policy for the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence who worked with the legislator on these issues, added that simply mentioning guns in a piece of legislation has become controversial.
"Obviously, there is opposition to any type of firearms legislation in Idaho and so, we've gotta figure out who will be our champions and what hearts and minds we need to change and how we do that," she said.
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