In the past three years, police in the UK returned more than 150 licenses for firearms to individuals who had previously had their licenses and weapons revoked. And
out of all the gun licenses they returned from 2019 to 2021, upwards of 25% went to domestic abuse suspects.It seems obvious that
people who have been terrorizing their partners or families at home should not have deadly weapons at their immediate disposal. But apparently British police don't agree. In fact, according to the organization Women's Aid, they had found "countless instances" of law enforcement officials simply "shrugging off domestic abuse as a less serious offense." A government report in 2021 corroborates this, saying police had failed in "giving the threat of [domestic] violence the resources it deserved." This probably explains why only around 18% of people who experience domestic abuse even bother reporting violence to the police, knowing it won't be taken seriously.
Sign the petition to demand that the UK ban domestic abusers from possessing guns or gun licenses!As Farah Nazeer, the chief executive of Women's Aid correctly notes: "Even if the perpetrator hasn't ever used the gun against their partner,
just possessing the weapon, its presence in the house, is a form of intimidation and control."She's absolutely right. The recent case of Jake Davison is one such example. In July 2020, police seized a shotgun that Davison owned and revoked his gun license after he was accused of an assault involving two youths. Then, around six months ago, police gave Davison back his shotgun. One month later, following domestic arguments and altercations with his mother about his sexist incel views, he used his shotgun to kill five people, and then himself.
Domestic abusers should never be allowed to own guns. Period. They are dangerous and cannot be trusted. Tell UK lawmakers to pass a lifetime ban on gun licenses for domestic abusers!