Gov. Ed Rendell is right in joining a movement to toughen the PFA (protection from abuse) law in Pennsylvania.

Though there is no guarantee that any changes to the law will prevent another occurrence of deadly violence in a PFA case, the changes now being discussed should help and are so obvious that they should already be part of the law.

One such proposed change would have law enforcement official confiscate all firearms owned by the abuser, rather than just the one weapon used to threaten or shoot the victim now protected by the PFA order. Again, it must be recognized that confiscating every firearm owned by an abuser does not guarantee that the abuser will not somehow get another gun or will not use some other weapon to commit murder or serious violence. But taking away all the guns owned by an abuser is a good place to start.

Another proposed change would give the judge in the case the authority to prevent the object of a PFA order from buying or possessing a gun while the PFA is in force. Again, this is a common sense measure that should already be part of PFA law.

Other minor reforms to the state's PFA law are being pressed by a group led by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The group organized a rally in Harrisburg last week that attracted Rendell and lawmakers from both parties. Some gun groups and sportsmen associations had some earlier misgivings about the proposed reforms, but now seem to be supportive so long as their concerns are addressed. That willingness to go along with efforts to make PFA orders more effective is encouraging.

Statistics suggest more should be done to strengthen PFAs. In 2004, domestic violence in Pennsylvania claimed the lives of 61 women, 39 men and 9 children under 17. There were also 33 suicides that followed a domestic-violence murder or exchange with police that was linked to domestic violence.

In Butler County, the past year has seen several domestic violence incidents that ended in death.

The proposed changes to the PFA law are unlikely to end deadly violence between men and women, but the common sense changes now being proposed should do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of people who have demonstrated a tendency toward violence. For that reason, they should be quickly become law.

- J.L.W.III