Restraining orders have the power of law…but they are also just paper.
A woman who was stabbed to death trying to flee her estranged husband in a quiet suburban neighborhood gave chilling accounts of harassment, threats and her deepening fears, according to documents filed in her divorce case.
Michelle Ann Kane, 43, in April was granted a partial temporary restraining order against her husband of nearly 12 years and was seeking a more comprehensive domestic violence restraining order, scheduled for a hearing June 28.
“‘Go ahead and get a restraining order,'” she said her estranged husband told her after “threatening to have me whacked.”
“It won’t protect you, but it will make you feel better,” he added, according to a court document she filed April 24.
On Saturday morning, a day after telling police she feared for her safety and sought refuge with her two small children in the West Hills home of friends, Michelle Kane died on the street as she tried to outrun her attacker. She was stabbed multiple times.
Police said Michael Rodney Kane found out where his wife was staying and pushed his way into the home as his wife hid in a bathroom with their small children. Michelle Kane ran from the house, but police say Michael Kane caught up with her and stabbed her repeatedly.
I’ve had more friends than I’d like to come to me about stalkers, estranged exes, troubled family members, and people with axes to grind who have been threatened with death.
My answer is always the same: A) Get a Gun, B) Get a restraining order, C) Get your carry permit and carry that gun ALL THE TIME, and be prepared to use it if the bastard violates the restraining order.
The restraining order is great, as it A) Notifies your attacker that you aren’t messing around, and B) Gives the police a paper-trail to follow between the two people.
Still it is just paper, and all it does is A) maybe scares the person straight, B) Gives you more latitude to defend yourself without letting them get close enough to hurt you, and without you getting yourself into a George Zimmerman style legal battle.
Note that every state’s gun laws make this different. If you live in Vermont, Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, or Alaska, its all just a simple matter of jumping through a few hoops. The constitution is your carry permit, and you just need to get the gun and the restraining order. When a friend from Maine called me about somebody who had threatened to kill him over a grudge it was a little different. He could get the gun that day, and openly carry if he needed to, and he could get to the police to get the protective order…but the permit required a safety class and a waiting period.
Massachusetts you need the permit BEFORE you buy the gun…you also need a permit for pepper spray, and electronic stun devices are illegal here. So you see that those foolish gun laws only put people at a disadvantage when they suddenly realized they do in FACT NEED a gun.
H/t Charlie Foxtrot
In Ohio, if a Person has a Restraining Order, and still gets Threatened, they can go to the nearest Sheriff’s Office to their Home, show the Order, and get a Temp CHP ON THE SPOT. Don’t know if other States have that, but for once our State Gooberment got something right.
There are a few other states that do that, but the number is sadly very small.