In November 2008, Dawn Williams-Stewart arrived at work at the NRA headquarters with bruises, explaining her husband, Antonio Stewart, had nearly broken her jaw. She had shared her fear of him with coworkers, revealing he had threatened to kill her. Dawn had been reluctant about getting a restraining order because she thought it might inflame him. It is uncertain whether Dawn went through with obtaining the restraining order. However, even if she did, the legal process can be complicated, particularly when a gun is involved. Dawn needed an Extreme Risk Protection Order, which can be obtained under a red flag law, The Trace reports. Dawn could appear before a judge and testify that her husband should be disarmed because his access to firearms puts her life in immediate danger. However, in 2008, Maryland did not yet have a red flag law. About a week after Dawn appeared at work with bruises on her face, Stewart shot and killed her.
The NRA, along with many Republicans, including then-President Donald Trump, endorsed red flag laws following the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida. However, these laws are now perceived as a Democratic policy. Gun rights absolutists — and Republican lawmakers — have increasingly attacked the statutes with false claims about rampant misuse. As resistance has built, the NRA has reversed its position. Randy Kozuch, the organization’s current head lobbyist, wrote that red flag laws “strip away gun owners’ rights without due process.” What happened to Dawn is not unusual in America. In intimate partner homicide, studies show, the presence of a firearm leads to a fivefold increase in fatal outcomes. From 2014 to 2020, there was a 58% rise in such killings, according to an analysis by Reveal. In 2021, the year for which data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is most recently available, there were at least 1,477 intimate partner homicides, more than 70% of which were committed with a firearm. Of those — and consistent with figures from previous years — almost 80% of the victims were women.
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