Three days after the U.S. Department of Justice announced a plan to help a Native American tribe in South Dakota reduce domestic violence, Republican Governor Kristi Noem called on the department to do more for public safety on reservations.
On Friday, the department announced the Oglala Sioux Tribe as one of 78 communities across 47 states to be designated under Section 1103 of the Violence Against Women Act. The designation means the tribe will receive focused law enforcement efforts and legal support to prosecute people convicted of domestic violence who own firearms. The initiative aims to prosecute offenders under a federal law prohibiting certain people from possessing firearms.
“Intimate partner violence involving guns presents a grave danger to victims trapped in violent relationships,” said Alison Ramsdell, U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota, in a statement.
According to Native News Online , 911 emergency calls on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 2021 included 1,463 domestic violence calls and 522-gun related calls.