Irene Diaz

opinion contributor

Some of the most painful memories of my childhood include those of my father hitting my mother. Luckily, my mother escaped the cycle of violence, divorcing my father while I was still young, but domestic violence is something that has plagued my family for generations.

The scars of those memories affected the trajectory of our family’s life, each taking root within us in different ways. Like my mother, my sisters experienced domestic violence. Thankfully, most were fortunate enough to escape it – all except for one, Janie.

Her story illustrates the deadly link between abusive relationships and guns, and the need for narrowly tailored gun reform to reduce domestic violence committed with firearms.

Janie's husband shot her in the heart

Janie was 10 when she met her future husband. We knew his family because they were migrant farmworkers, similar to ours. Their marriage lasted 15 years, and during those years, several instances of domestic violence overshadowed their relationship, including at least two incidents where a gun was involved.

Janie eventually sought out a protection order against her husband, but even then, it was not enough to protect her – all because her abuser had easy access to a gun. The day she was murdered, my sister allowed her husband to visit their home because he had asked to bring their son a birthday present.

Unbeknownst to her, her husband did not have a gift when he got there. Instead, he had a gun.

Moments before Janie’s murder, her husband kissed their son on his forehead and told him to go back into the house. He then pulled out his gun and chased my sister around his car. He caught her and shot her in the heart.

She died there on the sidewalk. She died in fear. She was only 30.

Arizona's law has loopholes

I told this story on the lawn of the Arizona Legislature earlier this year during Arizona Moms Demand Action’s advocacy day. I was grateful to advocate for Senate Bill 1219, a commonsense proposal that would have closed dangerous loopholes in Arizona’s laws and would help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, like the man who murdered my sister.

The bill would protect Arizonans by prohibiting abusers convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes and abusers who are subject to final orders of protection from purchasing or possessing firearms. It would also require that domestic abusers who become prohibited from having guns promptly relinquish the firearms they already own.

Guns and domestic abusers are an incredibly deadly combination. Arizona women and families keep dying because of gaps in state law that allow their abusers to access guns easily. Between 2013 and 2017, there were at least 195 victims of intimate partner homicide in Arizona.

Of these victims, 65% were shot and killed. And between 2012 and 2016, Arizona’s rate of intimate partner gun homicide was 66% higher than the national average. We must do better

While federal law prohibits those convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from having guns, state officials are often unable to enforce this prohibition without a state law that mirrors the federal law. SB 1219 could have been that remedy.

Pass this bill to close them in 2020

However, despite bipartisan support, SB 1219 never even got a hearing. Arizona deserves better.

Today, red, blue and purple states across the country have taken action to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. In total, 30 states and Washington, D.C., have passed similar laws – most with strong bipartisan backing and many with unanimous support.

Yet our legislature refused to even grant the bill a hearing. Arizona is lagging behind, and it’s costing lives.

When the legislature gets back to work in 2020, lawmakers owe it to Arizonans to pass commonsense gun laws to keep Arizona families safe. I urge them to think deeply about prioritizing the policies that will save Arizona lives.

Irene Diaz is a member of the Everytown Survivor Network and a volunteer with the Arizona chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Reach her at stopdvnow88@gmail.com.