Dallas plans to be the first city in Texas to report low-level family violence convictions to the Texas Department of Public Safety with the expressed intent of preventing a domestic abuser from obtaining a firearm.

Dallas plans to be the first city in Texas to report low-level family violence convictions to the Texas Department of Public Safety with the expressed intent of preventing a domestic abuser from obtaining a firearm.

The Dallas Marshal's Office briefed the council's Public Safety Committee on Monday that it will begin reporting Class C misdemeanor guilty or no contest pleas for family violence to DPS later this month.

The state forwards that information to the FBI, which maintains the National Crime Information Center, the database for background checks to obtain a firearm.

The procedure is already required for counties in Texas, but has always remained optional for municipalities.

Gary Lindsey, the city marshal, told the committee reporting the convictions closes a loophole.

"I think this is one of the methods that everybody is looking at how we can provide an enhancement and address the family violence problem," Lindsey said.

Class C family violence cases end up in Dallas Municipal Court, where defendants pay a maximum $500 fine. Lindsey says 2200 cases have come through in the last 3-4 years.

A Class C citation is written when a verbal threat has been made or physical contact that did not result in injury.

Estella Segovia says they are the exact kind of crimes that should prevent an offender from obtaining a gun. She survived a frightening domestic violence relationship that ended with her ex-husband in prison for 99 years after he opened fire on her inside a house six years ago.

She wasn't injured, but one her relatives lost an eye in the attack.

"An abuser that actually gets a charge should very well be paid attention to – it doesn’t matter the level," Segovia said. "I think it’s of the utmost importance.”