A Different Morning

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character, Phil, wakes up each morning to discover it's still February 2. Stuck in a time loop, he can't move forward with his life until he makes major changes to better himself and his community.

Lately it feels like Iowa is stuck in a loop, every week the morning news tells of another woman shot to death by her intimate partner. Nationally, the intimate partner homicide rate is dropping, but in Iowa it's going up. What will it take for our communities to move forward and make our homes safe for all Iowans?

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of domestic abuse or who is subject to a restraining order from having firearms. Elsewhere firearm-related homicides have dropped since these restrictions were created. However, in Iowa, according to the Iowa Domestic Abuse Death Review Team, firearms are used in 67 percent of the homicides by an intimate partner and weapons seizure orders were never issued in most of the cases that would have required them. Iowa law does not match the federal statutes. Even though federal law trumps the state, without the matching changes to Iowa's Code, firearm restrictions are not being implemented.

The rest of the nation moves on while we drink our morning coffee over the story of a neighbor's death once more. Call your legislator. Demand that Iowa keep firearms out of the hands of abusers. Together we can wake up tomorrow to a different day.

Rhonda Dean

Executive Director

CAASA