Article: Domestic Violence Murders in Arkansas

Domestic Violence Murders in Arkansas
January 24, 9:09 PMFort Smith Gun Rights ExaminerSteve D. Jones

According to statistics from the Violence Policy Center, Arkansas has ranked in the top ten in 2006 and 2007 for number of women killed due to domestic violence (later stats not yet compiled). These women were killed by “intimate partners” such as husbands and boyfriends. In addition, black women are being killed by these men at an even more alarming rate, nearly three to one in relation to white women. What can we Arkansans do to help these women?
Agencies, both state and private, are already in place to aid these women. Services are provided to counsel them in recognizing the bad situation they are in and to help them better their lives. If a woman chooses to leave her spouse, shelter and food is available to them. However, protection from attack by these partners after they leave cannot be obtained around the clock.
Law enforcement agencies do their absolute best, but they are minutes away and are not required by law to provide protection. If a woman has left her spouse and is afraid for her life, she is on her own, as the Christina Springs case has shown. Organizations such as The Violence Policy Center provide no help, only attacking gun owners. They state in one of their publications, “For women in America, guns are not used to save lives, but to take them”. They have no valid answers to the question of how to protect these women, however.
Arkansas’s lawmakers should step forward and attack this problem. A woman who has a restraining order needs more than a piece of paper to protect her. If a woman can pass an instant background check, she should be able to obtain a free CHL (concealed handgun license) immediately, instead of waiting for 60–120 days. The state should provide vouchers for handgun and self-defense training from state-approved trainers. In addition, open carry should be legalized as it is in 43 other states in the country, allowing them to carry a firearm in the open for their self-defense.
The time has come in Arkansas to pull our collective heads out of the sand. These women need self-defense, and we are not providing it to them; in fact, we make it against the law for them to carry self-protection! Please call your legislator and talk to them about this as soon as possible.