March 14, 2018
Page 5
Gun Control for Domestic Abusers
Focus of two
new laws in
Oregon outlined
by D anny P eterson
t he P ortlanD o bserver
The focus on preventing gun
violence took a big step in Oregon
last week thanks to a bill signed
by Gov. Kate Brown that makes it
harder for people convicted of do-
mestic abuse to get guns, as well
as a lesser known law implement-
ed in January that allows courts
to temporarily ban individuals
shown to be at high risk of harm-
ing themselves or others from ob-
taining guns.
Brown signed the so-called
‘boyfriend loophole’ law to elim-
inate a situation where abusive in-
timate partners who do not reside
under the same roof as their vic-
tims could still obtain guns. It also
restricts gun access to people with
restraining orders.
The Extreme Risk Protection
Order law that started with the
New Year allows courts to pro-
hibit someone from having guns
or other deadly weapons if there
is probable cause that they pose
significant danger to themselves
or others.
Such a measure could very well
have altered the outcome of a mul-
tiple homicide in 1995 that robbed
Oregon psychologist Doreen
Dodgen-Magee of her sister-in-
law and three young nieces. They
were shot and killed by an abusive
ex-partner and father.
Dodge-Magee’s sister-in-law,
Laura Whitson, was married for
eight years to David Whitson be-
fore her partner’s emotional abuse
forced her to move with their kids
to her mother’s home in Scott
Photo C ourtesy M ultnoMah C ounty
Oregon psychologist Doreen Dodgen-Magee holds photos of her nieces killed by their own father to make a point during a discussion of
a new law that allows courts to temporarily prohibit individuals who pose significant danger to themselves or others from having guns.
She’s also an advocate for the Moms Demand Action/Everytown for Gun Safety survivor network.
Mills.
He later broke into his ex wife’s
house and raped her, which result-
ed in a pregnancy. She then got a
restraining order against her hus-
band, but he still retained a right
of supervised visits with the chil-
dren. Later, enraged that he wasn’t
part of their child’s first day of
kindergarten, he showed up to
their house with a gun.
“Dave shot his way into the
house with a rifle. My mother-
in-law, Sarah, Rachel and baby
April (6 months) were hiding in
a bathroom—they ran outside.”
Dodge-Magee said. “He ran out
and shot them all. My mother-in-
law was shot in the arm but sur-
vived.”
The incident traumatized the
small town of 400 and David
Whitson, who was sentenced to
life in prison, later died by suicide
while behind bars.
Under the new abusive intimate
partner law, any kind of existing
restraining order can be grounds
to removing guns from an individ-
ual’s possession, even if they do
not live under the same roof.
The order can be issued if
clear and convincing evidence
that someone is at risk of suicide
or harming others with a deadly
weapon in the near future is pre-
sented to a judge.
“We believe it can save peo-
ple’s lives,” Multnomah County
Chair Deborah Kafoury told the
Portland Observer. “If anyone sees
imminent risk of someone doing
harm to others or themselves, they
should call the court to get more
information.”
Unlike the boyfriend loophole
bill, which is geared specifically
at intimate partners, an Extreme
Risk Protection Order can have a
much wider-reaching net, Kafoury
explained.
“It can be a friend, it can be a
spouse, it can be your child. This
really could have had an effect
to stop the gunman at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School
[in Parkland, Florida],” Kafoury
said.
The gun safety advocacy group
Everytown for Gun Safety an-
alyzed every mass shooting—
where four or more victims were
killed--in the U.S. from 2009-
2016 and found that 54 percent of
them were committed by intimate
partners or family. In 42 percent of
the cases, the perpetrator showed
warning signs before the shooting
that they were a danger to them-
selves or others. Red flags includ-
C ontinueD on P age 5