Merry Jackson wanted to protect her daughter, Lori. She did the best she could. But when Lori鈥檚 husband, Scott Gellatly, stormed through the door of her parents鈥� home, there wasn鈥檛 much Merry could do.
鈥淗e鈥檚 here! Scott鈥檚 here!鈥� Lori screamed upstairs to her mother, who was in bed with her twin 18-month-old grandchildren.
Merry hit the panic button she wore around her neck that was linked to her home security system. Lori called 9-1-1. Through tears she told the dispatcher that her husband was back, that she had a temporary restraining order against him and that when he left five weeks ago, he had taken his gun with him. Then, Lori and Merry went downstairs, hoping that Gellatly wouldn鈥檛 come for the babies.
鈥淲e knew he was coming in a rage,鈥� Merry said.
They fought at the door.
鈥淗e had Lori by the hair and he was trying to pull her out,鈥� Merry said.
Lori and Merry pulled against him, screaming.
鈥淗e was losing the battle,鈥� Merry said, 鈥渁nd he just let go with one hand and went in his pocket and pulled out a gun.鈥�
Gellatly started shooting. He hit Merry in her jaw, arm and back. He shot Lori in her head and chest.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 fight a gun,鈥� Merry said.
鈥淧lease don鈥檛 kill mommy鈥� were her daughter鈥檚 last words.
Dangerous Gaps
Federal law prohibits people subject to protective orders for certain domestic violence offenses from purchasing or possessing a gun. But the restraining order that Lori Jackson had been granted by a judge in April 2014 was temporary, so her husband wasn鈥檛 barred by federal law from purchasing a gun. A hearing for a permanent order was just weeks away.
At the time, Connecticut state law also did not prevent Gellatly from buying a gun, despite the temporary restraining order against him. He had taken his shotgun with him when he left Connecticut. While hiding out in Virginia, Gellatly bought the handgun he would ultimately use to kill his wife.
In 2016, two years after Lori鈥檚 murder, Connecticut lawmakers that bars people subject to temporary domestic violence restraining orders from purchasing guns. But that gap remains open on the federal level.
A version of the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) seeks to change that by adding multiple provisions that would expand protections for victims of intimate partner violence. In the past, VAWA provided funding for states, domestic violence organizations and law enforcement to address an issue that affects millions of women each year.
In 2014, Merry Jackson was shot multiple times by her daughter鈥檚 husband. One bullet exited through her left eye. Her daughter, Lori, did not survive.
Ryan Caron King / Connecticut Public
The seeks to go beyond funding, creating statutes that in many instances regulate gun purchase and possession. One provision would prevent those with a temporary restraining order from legally purchasing a gun. Another would prohibit boyfriends and stalkers from possessing guns. A third provision would require law enforcement and prosecutors to be notified when a domestic abuser attempts to purchase a firearm. But it鈥檚 those that have The U.S. House passed the bill in April 2019. The Senate has refused to take it up.
VAWA was and has been reauthorized three times since then, in 2000, 2005, and 2013. In 2018, it
Opponents of the 2019 House-passed version of VAWA maintain that the provision that would prevent violent dating partners and those convicted of stalking 鈥� often called the 鈥渂oyfriend loophole鈥� 鈥� from possessing guns diminishes Second Amendment rights. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, introduced a version of VAWA that does not include LGBTQ or expanded partner protection provisions, and excludes protections for Native American women, . In November 2019, Ernst saying that it would not make it through the Senate. Ernst鈥檚 office did not respond to a request for comment. The closing the so-called boyfriend loophole, saying the provision is 鈥渢oo broad and ripe for abuse.鈥�
The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations makes it five times more likely that a victim will die, according to . And when a gun is used in a domestic violence assault, the chance of a fatality becomes than using another type of weapon or bodily force, according to
In 2017, by partners in the U.S. were killed with firearms.
A Volatile, Unpredictable Reality
Doug Jackson saw a picture of his house on the internet while he was at work. News of the shooting in Oxford, Connecticut, had spread quickly.
He arrived home to yellow tape stretched across the entrance to his driveway and dozens of cops.
鈥淚t was chaotic that day,鈥� Doug said. 鈥淚t was crazy.鈥�
Merry and Lori were already gone by the time he made it back. Merry underwent weeks of surgeries for her wounds. While his wife remained in the hospital, Doug went to their daughter鈥檚 funeral.
When the Jacksons first met Gellatly, Lori鈥檚 husband, he was the recently-divorced new neighbor with two sons. He鈥檇 stop by to talk to Doug from time to time and then after a while, took a liking to Lori.
鈥淚t really blossomed from there,鈥� Merry said. 鈥淗e seemed like a really nice guy, very likable, helped 鈥� would do anything for you.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 long until Lori was pregnant.
鈥淚t upset me because I felt like he was more or less trapping her,鈥� Merry said. 鈥淚 saw the aggression in him.鈥�
She recalls a time after Lori and Gellatly had gotten engaged and they had a 鈥渢errible fight鈥� with their neighbor over a dog. Merry didn鈥檛 like how he talked to Lori.
鈥淎fter that, he got very possessive of her,鈥� Merry said. 鈥淓ven before they got married, she lost all her friends. He would make her de-friend anyone that was a male on Facebook. He would talk down to her. He could snap real quick.鈥�
The couple had a destination wedding.
鈥淓ven that day that they were getting married, I said 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 have to go through with this,鈥欌�� Merry told Lori, 鈥溾�榊ou have family.鈥欌��
Lori told her mother that she loved Gellatly and that he treated her well. Though Merry said she wasn鈥檛 aware of Gellatly physically abusing Lori, she noticed how he鈥檇 always sit right next to Lori at family gatherings and pinch her arm. Lori would tell him to stop 鈥� Gellatly would say they were 鈥渏ust little love bites.鈥�
When the twins were born, Lori wouldn鈥檛 leave them alone with her husband, Merry said. Merry had retired to watch them. Gellatly would constantly call or text Lori when he wasn鈥檛 with her.
鈥淥n the way home from work, she had to be connected to him,鈥� Merry said. 鈥淓ven if they weren鈥檛 talking, she鈥檇 have that phone on speaker. I just thought, this is not normal.鈥�
Merry sensed that Gellatly didn鈥檛 like the connection she had with Lori.
鈥淗e was trying to break it and he couldn鈥檛,鈥� Merry said.
Gellatly would lash out at Merry, yelling and harassing her when, on rare occasions, she needed to leave babysitting the twins early.
Lori and Gellatly鈥檚 fights got worse. One time, she tried to leave with the twins but he pushed her down and grabbed one of the babies from her, Merry recalled.
鈥淗e fled the next day,鈥� Merry said. 鈥淗e was gone 鈥� took what he wanted out of the house and left.鈥�
Officer Michael Dyki, who at the time was with the Connecticut State Police, remembers the bruises on Lori鈥檚 arm when she walked into the police station to file a domestic violence report after an alleged assault by her husband. A warrant was put out for Gellatly鈥檚 arrest. After that, Dyki made a routine of calling to check on Lori.
Merry and Lori each filed for temporary restraining orders against Gellatly. While Lori鈥檚 was approved, Merry鈥檚 was denied. Merry said the judge ruled she wasn鈥檛 in danger. Lori decided to move in with her parents, who lived just a few houses down.
But since Gellatly had fled, the police couldn鈥檛 serve the warrant. When Lori鈥檚 first restraining order expired, she got
鈥淚 think she was always worried that he would or could come back,鈥� Dyki said. 鈥淎 restraining order is a piece of paper. Not everyone abides by a rule or a law or a piece of paper, so I think that was always in the back of her mind.鈥�
Gellatly would harass Lori through texts, voicemails and Facebook.
鈥淚t was really trying, those five weeks that he was gone because we never knew,鈥� Merry said. 鈥淎nd I always felt, he鈥檚 going to strike.鈥�
During that time, Lori would be escorted into work by her co-workers and her building was placed on alert because Gellatly had threatened her boss.
鈥淚t was getting stressful because things were escalating,鈥� Merry said. 鈥淚 just had the fear that he was always out there.鈥�
Lori told Dyki she was afraid her husband might harm himself, so Dyki would call Gellatly,too.
鈥淗e knew there was a warrant here,鈥� Dyki said. 鈥淗e knew I wasn鈥檛 just calling to see how he was doing.鈥�
The night before Gellatly came back to Connecticut, Dyki said he told him he was in Florida.
The next morning, as Dyki was getting his kids ready for school, he got a phone call from another officer.
鈥淗e did it,鈥� the officer said. 鈥淗e killed her.鈥�
The Potential Power of Temporary Restraining Orders
Many victims of intimate partner violence file initially for a temporary restraining order because they can be put in place relatively quickly. In many states a judge can issue a temporary order without holding a hearing or informing the other party.
鈥淚t is there to safeguard victims in emergency or crisis situations,鈥� said April Zeoli, an associate professor at Michigan State University鈥檚 School of Criminal Justice. 鈥淚f someone is in danger and they apply for a [full] restraining order, waiting a couple of weeks for that full hearing to take place to get the firearm restriction could take too long. Injuries, firearm use 鈥� all of that could happen during that wait time, so covering that temporary order provides a firearm restriction immediately.鈥�
Zeoli that looked at intimate partner homicide rates in 45 states from 1980-2013. The study showed that when a state extended domestic violence restraining order firearm restrictions to cover temporary restraining orders, there was an associated 13% decrease in intimate partner homicides overall and a 16% decrease in intimate partner homicides committed with a firearm.
鈥淪o often when someone applies for domestic violence restraining order, they鈥檙e doing so in the context of leaving that relationship,鈥� Zeoli said. 鈥淭hat restraining order and the fact that they鈥檙e leaving can signal to the abuser that the abuser has lost control. If the abuser thinks that they鈥檝e lost that control, they might be more likely to resort to more severe and deadly violence.鈥�
Stuck In Congress
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, remembers meeting Merry shortly after the shooting when she was still in bandages.
The Jacksons joined Blumenthal in Hartford, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., as he introduced the to the U.S. Senate in July 2014. The bill restricts from legally purchasing and possessing guns. Blumenthal in 2015 and 2017.
鈥淗er husband bought a handgun that he never should have been permitted to purchase and wouldn鈥檛 have been but for this loophole,鈥� Blumenthal said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we want to close it. It is a very stunning and staggering example of how guns in one state can do such damage in another.鈥�
Since its introduction, the legislation named for Lori Jackson has been added to the broader Violence Against Women Act, which remains unauthorized.
Despite losing a portion of her eye and dealing with daily pain, Merry, along with Doug, still join Blumenthal and domestic violence advocates in advocating for the bill.
Adding federal firearm restrictions to temporary orders could save lives, according to the study by Michigan State鈥檚 April Zeoli.
鈥淩eauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and extending those firearm restrictions to dating partners, to ex parte orders,鈥� Zeoli said, 鈥渃ould be very important in saving not just the lives of intimate partners, but those additional victims that are also unfortunately too often killed in the context of intimate partner homicide.鈥�
If you need help call the:
1-800-799-SAFE(7233)
1-800-787-7224
En espa帽ol: 1.800.799.7233
if you鈥檙e hard of hearing you can email:
deafhelp@thehotline.org
or videocall 855-812-1001
is a public media reporting project on the role of guns in American life.
Copyright 2020 Guns and America. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxNDQ2NDAxMDEyNzU2NzM2ODA3ZGI1ZA001))
