| WASHINGTON - August 28 - News advisory:
The decision of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the
case of US v. Emerson has the potential to significantly impact
federal domestic violence gun laws. Leading domestic violence, gun
control and legal experts will discuss the case and the
implications of the Court's pending decision at a press briefing
at:
WHEN:
11:30 a.m., Wednesday, August 29
WHERE:
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C.
701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 9th Floor
The meeting will feature:
-- Fernando Laguarda, General Counsel, National Network to End
Domestic Violence
-- Mathew Nosanchuk, Litigation Director and Legislative
Counsel, Violence Policy Center
-- Lynn Rosenthal, Executive Director, National Network to End
Domestic Violence
-- Kiersten Stewart, Director of Public Policy, Family Violence
Prevention Fund
Lunch will be served
US v. Emerson tests the validity of 18 U.S.C. ' 922(g)(8), the
federal statute designed to keep firearms out of the hands of those
who have been restrained by court order from threatening or harming
others. Texan Timothy Joe Emerson was indicted under this statute
in 1999 for brandishing a firearm in front of his estranged wife
and young daughter while subject to a protective order. In a ruling
that conflicted with long-standing precedent, a District Court
judge threw out the indictment, holding that Emerson had a 2nd
Amendment right to own a gun. If the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
upholds the ruling, laws that protect victims of domestic violence
from armed abusers will be at risk of being invalidated or
repealed.
Guns and domestic violence are a lethal combination, injuring
and killing women every day. In 1998, 1,320 women on average more
than three women per day were murdered by their husbands or
boyfriends, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Guns were
used in almost two-thirds of these domestic violence homicides.
The Alliance to Enforce Domestic Violence Gun Laws is a group of
organizations committed to protecting victims of domestic violence
and upholding federal domestic violence gun laws. Alliance member
organizations include: Family Violence Prevention Fund, National
Coalition Against Domestic Violence, National Network to End
Domestic Violence, and Violence Policy Center.
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Alliance to Enforce Domestic Violence Gun Laws:
www.endabuse.org; www.ncadv.org;
www.nnedv.org; www.vpc.org
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