A lawmaker who once served as Denver’s manager of public safety testified Thursday about the deadly mix of guns and domestic violence.

Rep. Beth McCann reeled off statistics showing that when guns are involved in a domestic-violence situation, the chance of someone getting killed is far greater.

“Guns and domestic violence should not mix,” the Denver Democrat she told the House Judiciary Committee. “That’s what this bill is all about.”

McCann and Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, are sponsoring Senate Bill 197, which McCann said “puts some teeth” in existing federal law that already restricts certain domestic-violence offenders from having guns.

Under the bill, courts would be required to order those offenders to relinquish their guns within 24 to 72 hours, depending on the situation.

When the bill went through the Democratic-controlled Senate, Republicans argued that the bill essentially amounted to gun confiscation, but supporters argued there are safeguards built into the measure.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 7-4 along party lines, with all Democrats in favor, despite concerns from one witness that taking someone’s weapons could be a trigger to inciting more violence.

Several victims of domestic violence urged the bill be passed, relating horrifying tales of abuse at the hands of boyfriends, husbands and fathers who continued to keep guns even after restraining orders were filed against them.

One witness used an alias because she said she and her three children “continue to fear the monster” who tried to kill them. They have changed their names and their Social Security numbers. Allowing domestic-violence offenders to keep firearms, she said, is like “giving a dictator a nuclear weapon.”

Aaron Fransura talked about the death of his mother, killed last year by the man she had once been engaged to and filed a restraining order against.

“He should never have had a gun,” Fransua said, “yet nothing was done to take away his gun from him.”

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels