WASHINGTON–On the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday released the following statement on the Biden-Harris administration’s new actions to protect domestic violence survivors. The actions include an expansion of technical assistance and federal funding opportunities for state and local law enforcement programs that remove firearms from domestic abusers who are convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence or are subject to a protective order. The new actions will also support increased education for states to enforce the provision in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to narrow the “boyfriend loophole.”

“The presence of a gun makes it five times more likely a woman will be killed by her abuser. It’s a simple fact that keeping firearms out of the hands of abusers saves lives, and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act took a big step forward by narrowing the boyfriend loophole. I’m proud the Biden-Harris administration is announcing these steps to implement that provision and make sure state and local law enforcement are doing everything they can to enforce the law and help keep domestic violence survivors safe. The overwhelming majority of Americans agree abusers shouldn’t have access to guns, and I won’t stop fighting until we close the loophole once and for all.”

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