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| Cut From the Same Cloth |
It has been well known
that guns were the most common murder weapons in Domestic Violence cases. To
back up my statement, I found the following information as reported verbatim
from the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women’s 2013 Femicide Report.
“Kara Ann Monson Age 26 Granite Falls September
2, 2013
In the days prior to her murder, Kara Monson and other
family members had received threatening messages from her ex-boyfriend Andrew
Dikken. He had also been stalking Monson. Andrew Dikken has been indicted on
six counts of first degree murder, in connection with the shooting deaths of
Kara Monson, and her boyfriend Chris Panitzke. When police arrived at the
scene, Chris Panitzke told officers that Andrew Dikken had snuck into Kara Monson's
home at 3:00 a.m., flipped on the bedroom lights and opened fire. Kara Monson,
age 26, died instantly while Chris Panitzke lived several more days before
dying from multiple gunshot wounds.
Access
to Firearms: In
2013, 17 of the 38 (45%) domestic violence homicides were committed with
firearms. While the percentage of domestic violence homicides using firearms
fluctuates some year to year, murder with firearms is the most frequent weapon
of choice and is the weapon used in about 50% of the documented domestic
violence homicides (Of women killed - 52% in 2011, 50% in 2012, and 42% in
2013) supporting the studies showing that possession of firearms can increase
the risk of lethality. In light of current debates regarding guns and gun
control legislation, it is helpful to consider these statistics. When there is
a history of domestic violence, we should be looking at the question of access
to firearms.”
New
Minnesota Laws
Effective
Aug. 1, 2014
FAMILY
Modifications
made to court-ordered parenting time factors
One of the most
contentious issues to resolve during divorce is parenting time. A new law makes
changes to factors that could be considered in court-ordered plans.
A significant change will
allow for modification of court-ordered parenting time plans over time, based
on the child’s best interest and their developmental needs.
Other provisions in the
law sponsored by Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL-St. Paul) and Sen. Chris Eaton
(DFL-Brooklyn Park) include:
• no presumption for or against joint physical custody,
except when domestic abuse, as defined in the order for protection statute, has
occurred between the parents;
• a provision that when
the court is considering awarding either joint legal or joint physical custody,
it may not use one of the four factors considered to the exclusion of all the
other factors;
that a disagreement over
sole or joint custody is not to be considered an inability of parents to
cooperate when considering the factors in awarding joint legal or physical
custody; and
• a requirement that the
court make detailed factual findings whenever the parties disagree about an
award of either sole or joint physical or legal custody.
HF2722*/SF2732/CH197
PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime
of violence definition expands
Three crimes will be
added to the state’s crime of violence statute while others will be removed.
Sponsored by Rep. Michael
Paymar (DFL-St. Paul) and Sen. Vicki Jensen (DFL-Owatonna), a new law adds felony fifth-degree
assault, felony domestic assault and felony domestic assault by strangulation.
If convicted of a crime of violence, a person is prohibited for life from
legally possessing firearms in the state.
Coming off the list would
be theft of a motor vehicle and theft involving property from a burning,
abandoned or vacant building or from an area of destruction caused by a civil
disaster, riot, bombing or the proximity of battle.
HF263*/SF1772/CH260
Domestic
abusers, stalkers prohibited from having a firearm
Someone who commits domestic violence or stalks another
person will lose access to a firearm.
A new law prohibits a
person subject to an order for protection in a child or domestic abuse case
from possessing weapons for the length of the order under certain circumstances
and requires them to surrender their firearms as would someone convicted of a
domestic assault or stalking offense if being prohibited from possessing
firearms is part of their punishment.
Rep. Dan Schoen (DFL-St.
Paul Park) and Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) sponsor the legislation.
The new law does not
allow the government to take guns without due process or a court conviction nor
does it allow illegal searches and seizures.
An abusing party will
need to transfer possession of their firearms to a law enforcement agency, a
federally licensed firearms dealer or a third party within three business days.
A person who accepts a transferred firearm from an abusing party or offender
will be guilty of a gross misdemeanor if the offender obtains possession of the
transferred firearm while prohibited from possessing firearms.
HF3238*/SF2639/CH213
