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A new gun law is poised to keep domestic violence victims safer. The new Louisiana law bans those convicted of domestic abuse from owning firearms for four years in hopes the law will protect victims of violent abuse. Someone who has been convicted of the crime or who is under a protection order either can sign a court-sworn declaration that he or she doesn’t own weapons or can sign a declaration in a sheriff’s office that any weapons will be given to a third party or surrendered to the sheriff’s office.

The convicted individual cannot purchase a firearm in those four years, either. Under this law, those convicted have 48 hours to transfer the weapons either to the sheriff or a third party. That also applies to those who have a protective order filed against them.

A director of a domestic violence center says she believes this law will help to bring the numbers down of women killed by men in domestic disputes. Louisiana ranks second in the United States for the rate of women killed by men. Statistics show that a woman is nine times more likely to be shot with a gun that is already in a home, so this law is aiming to reduce that figure.

Domestic abuse is a violent crime and victims of this crime go through undue suffering. Louisiana residents who find themselves on the receiving end of this have the right to speak with an attorney about what steps they can take not only to try to remedy the problem. A lawyer may also be able to offer additional help with respect to family law remedies. For instance, a victim may be entitled to a restraining order against the abuser that also grants exclusive possession of a home shared with the aggressor.