Awful: NJ Woman Murdered By Ex-Boyfriend While Waiting For Gun Permit to Protect Herself
A 39-year-old New Jersey woman saw the signs that she was in danger, and took the steps that the law would allow her to protect herself, but was still brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend while waiting for her gun permit to go through.
The Berlin Township woman got a restraining order against a former boyfriend, installed security cameras and an alarm system to her home and began the months-long process of obtaining a handgun, friends said.
But it wasn’t enough.
Bowne, 39, was stabbed to death in the driveway of her Patton Avenue home on Wednesday night.
Carol Bowne did everything right. She got the useless piece of paper the law allows her to get aka restraining order; she got security systems and on April 21 asked permission to be allowed to purchase a firearm to protect herself.
More about the gun permit from NJ.com:
According to news reports, Eitel had previously went to the salon in Somerdale where she worked and broke the windows on Bowne’s vehicle. She got a restraining order and kicked out Eitel, who was first “there for support after her husband passed. She didn’t want to be alone,” Smiley said.
Bowne then went to Berlin Township police in mid-April to apply for a gun license. According to reports, she went to check on the process — which takes about two months to complete — as recently as this week.
Beyond telling Smiley when she first applied for one, the conversation ended there.
“I didn’t really hear anything else about it,” she said.
According to firearms application forms available online through the New Jersey State Police, applicants must be fingerprinted, clear mental health and criminal records searches, complete application forms and provide references.
No one knows if she would have been able to defend herself against the scum that killed her, but at least she would have had a fighting chance. These are the kinds of stories no one thinks about when stupidly advocating for more gun restrictions.