This Session, Kansas Lawmakers Should Do More to Keep Guns Out of the Hands of Domestic Abusers

As lawmakers return to Topeka for the second term of Kansas’ legislative session on Monday, they will have new opportunities to pass common-sense gun safety bills. A top priority for lawmakers should be doing more to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.  

At least 31 women were fatally shot by an intimate partner in Kansas between 2013 and 2017. Nearly 3 out of every 5 intimate partner homicides in Kansas involved a firearm, and Black women in Kansas are twice as likely as white women to be fatally shot by a partner. 

In 2018, a bill to prohibit domestic abusers from possessing guns was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by then Governor Jeff Colyer. However, Kansas law doesn’t require domestic abusers to turn in the guns they may already have. Adding a process for abusers to relinquish firearms they already possess would give law enforcement officers the tools they need to ensure domestic abusers in Kansas don’t have easy access to guns. 

It is time for lawmakers to prioritize the safety of Kansas women and families from deadly domestic violence by addressing this gap in state law. 

Statistics about gun violence in Kansas are available here, and information on how Kansas’ gun laws compare to other states’ overall is available here. 

If you have questions, or to request an interview with a volunteer from Kansas Moms Demand Action, please don’t hesitate to reach out.