Each community has its own unique history and context for engaging in the work of making domestic violence victims safer by removing firearms from abusers who are prohibited from possessing them. It is important for each community to decide collaboratively what the challenges and priorities are in taking steps to improve the response to firearms in domestic violence cases. The FTAP technical assistance providers have encouraged the FTAP sites to engage in the following activities as they undertake this work:
- Assemble a management team, drawing on all relevant disciplines and stakeholder groups in the community
- Identify and enlist community-based organizations, including culturally specific entities
- Conduct an assessment of your system
- Identify non-legal system gun violence prevention and community violence reduction groups
- Convene one or more community meetings/events to learn and share different perspectives
- Undertake mapping to better understand gaps and barriers in your community’s response
- Conduct listening sessions
The following resources may be useful as you embark on these activities.
Firearms and Civil Protection Orders: Answers to Judges’ Frequently Asked Questions, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (2022)
Firearms in Domestic Violence Cases: Collaborative Strategies, 4/26/17 (60-minute webinar)
Firearm Removal/Retrieval in Cases of Domestic Violence, Prosecutors Against Gun Violence and the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearms Policy (2016 article)
Guidance for PO, ERPO, and court-ordered firearm restrictions NICS 2020, FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division
Strategies to Improve the Response to Firearms in Civil Protection Order (CPO) Cases: A Checklist for Judges, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (2022)