Dallas Mayor Calls Out Judges To Do Better Job At Taking Away Abuser's Guns

DALLAS (CBS11)  - Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings called out local elected judges Friday to do a better job at keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

Prompted by a CBS 11 I-Team investigation that exposed widespread failure in Dallas County to enforce a current gun law, Rawlings called a news conference Friday where he said local officials, police departments and judges need to do more to prevent mass shootings.

State and federal law prohibit convicted domestic violence abusers along with those subject to a protection order from having a gun.

In 2015, Dallas County started a gun surrender program in hopes it would ensure abusers followed the law.

The way the Dallas County Gun Surrender Program is supposed to work is when a judge issues a protective order that judge also orders the abuser to turn in their guns.

By now, county officials had expected to have collected more than 2,000 firearms, but nearly three years into the program only 101 guns have been surrendered.

"That's not good enough," Rawlings said. "We have to do better."

Flanked at the news conference by the District Attorney Faith Johnson, Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall and Judge Roberto Canas, Rawlings urged voters to demand judges to promise they will enforce this gun law.

Rawlings pointed out in the news conference that many of gunmen in recent mass shootings have had a prior history of domestic violence.

"I do not want one of these domestic violence criminals to walk into a Dallas school or a Dallas church and commit a mass murder because we didn't do our job," Rawlings said.

WATCH THE NEWS CONFERENCE HERE: