Domestic Violence conviction could cost your guns
New Wyoming Poster Campaign
October 16, 2005
Wyoming Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), America’s Initiative Against Gun Violence, has launched a new poster campaign to raise awareness of gun crime and domestic violence. The new poster, unveiled on October 14th, warns abusers that a conviction for domestic violence in Wyoming may cost the abuser his guns.
The poster reads, "It's like this ... beat a woman, lose your guns." The posters show an empty gun rack in a pickup truck, and was adapted from a similar campaign in Maine. The new poster is part of a public awareness campaign in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
A gun is the weapon most commonly used in domestic homicides. The goal of the campaign is to bring public awareness to the federal law. If someone is convicted of domestic violence, they can’t possess a gun or ammunition. That means they can’t buy a gun, borrow a gun or use a gun - or they can go to federal prison.
A recent survey found that Wyoming leads the nation in gun ownership, with 63 percent of Wyoming residents owning a firearm, almost double the national average. Wyoming officials are taking advantage of a federal law, passed in 1996, that prohibits those convicted of domestic violence from owning guns, under threat of a 10-year prison sentence.
Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nation-wide program, begun in 2001, to reduce gun crime in America by networking existing local programs that target gun crime and providing those programs with additional tools to be successful. Under Project Safe Neighborhoods, each United States Attorney establishes strategic partnerships between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in an intensive offensive against gun crime.
The Bush Administration has committed $901 million to this effort over three years. This funding is being used to hire new federal and state prosecutors, support investigators, provide training, distribute gun lock safety kits, deter juvenile gun crime, and develop and promote community outreach efforts as well as to support other gun violence reduction strategies.
Wyoming PSN is a statewide commitment toward reducing gun violence by partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement, prosecutors, and community leaders. The PSN effort here in Wyoming is a collaborative effort with Matt Mead, U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming, bringing together key leaders for the purpose of developing and implementing a plan that will address gun crime issues and concerns specific to Wyoming.
In Sublette County, victims of domestic violence can get help by contacting the SAFV Task Force in Pinedale at 307-367-6305, or Big Piney at 307-276-3975, or calling the 24-hour Crisis Hotline at 1-888-301-4435.
Related Links:
Project Safe Neighborhood
Project Safe Neighborhoods: The Law
Project Safe Neighborhoods Department of Justice
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