HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — There are nearly 10,000 applications for temporary restraining orders (TROs) filed in Connecticut courts every year.
Domestic violence experts say this is when there is the most danger and they are celebrating tonight as Connecticut joins the ranks of states that have laws that require an alleged abuser’s guns and ammunition to be seized by the police as soon as a TRO is granted by a judge.
The head of the state’s largest gun rights organization, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, says the Governor and the legislature are violating the “Due process of our Constitution” and they may seek a legal opinion. But as of Friday, it is the law of the land in Connecticut.
47-year-old Scott Gellatly is serving a 45-year prison term for murdering his wife, Lori, two years ago at her mother’s home in Oxford, and severely wounding her mother Merry Jackson with a gun that domestic violence experts say he should never have been able to buy.
Even though Lori had put on her application for a temporary restraining order that her husband had access to guns, a known red-flag in domestic violence cases, Gellatly was able to legally purchase a gun.
Gellatly and this case became the centerpiece for the drive to change state law. On Friday, with Merry Jackson in attendance, Gov. Malloy signed the bill that he introduced that will prohibit the possession of firearms for anyone who becomes subject to a temporary restraining order in an alleged domestic violence case.
One of those that helped get the bill passed is New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter (D-New Haven). A relative newcomer to the General Assembly, she was willing to share her own story of domestic abuse with fellow lawmakers, “As a survivor, I know how important it would be for other women, and men, who have experienced this or are going through this to understand that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
But it was of special significance to Lori Jackson’s family, who saw the bill die in the State Senate one year ago this week to be revived this year, and signed into law.
“I now it’s not going to bring my daughter back, but if we can save another life then at least she didn’t die in vain,” said Merry Jackson. Lori’s sister Casey Mason adding, “Keep her memory alive and hopefully save somebody’s life in the process.”
The Governor says he expects the law to be challenged in court, but says the challenge will fail because similar laws have passed legal challenge in other states. He also says that gun owners’ ‘due process’ is protected because the law calls for a speedy hearing after the guns and ammunition have been confiscated by the police.