Gun violence survivor Stephanie Holton writes in Spokane’s Spokesman Review:

Four years ago, I was on my knees in my own living room. My ex-husband had a gun pointed at my head. He’d threatened me before, and I thought, “Today he’s going to kill me.”

I didn’t even realize my kids were in the room, watching the whole time, until one of them cried out, distracting my ex-husband long enough for me to dial 911 and throw the phone under a blanket on the couch.

I didn’t know if the call went through or if the operator could even hear us. I remember trying to be loud, using his full name, and praying that I would live to hold my children again.

Just 10 hours beforehand, my ex-husband had been served with a restraining order. In my petition to the court, I confirmed that he owned firearms, that I was scared for my life, and that he was likely to do exactly what he did.

But none of the protection orders handed down by the court required him to hand over his guns. At the time, that wasn’t an option.

Washington state will vote on Initiative 1491, which creates extreme risk protection orders. The new civil protection order fills a gap in existing law by allowing families and law enforcement to petition a court to temporarily suspend an individual’s access to firearms if they are a danger to themselves or to others.

Read her full op-ed here.