we re back with an nbc news exclusive investigation. women who live with a domestic abuser with a firearm are five times more likely to be shot and killed and despite laws meant to remove guns from known abusers, many states are struggling to do that on instagram megan montgomery s life was beautiful. tell me a little about her. she just had this light about her that people were attracted to her to talk to her. reporter: but her mom suzanne and stepfather rod say megan s marriage to former police officer jason mcintosh was violent. megan recorded him threatening her. laugh now [ bleep ]. and i take that off your cheek she knew if she left she would be killed that s why she didn t leave. reporter: one night in february 2019, suzanne says, megan took her husband s gun to protect herself when she heard him coming towards her, she went towards the door with the gun to keep him away. and she said the next
thing i know i m on the floor and i m shot reporter: megan s arm was shattered. the police who responded were mcintosh s colleagues on the local force so alabama s state law enforcement agency took over, seizing the gun as evidence. we went and got the restraining order. she got the restraining order. reporter: but after megan moved into her own apartment later in 2019, the alabama law enforcement agency returned jason mcintosh s gun to him. 16 days later he shot and killed megan our worst fears came true. reporter: a spokesperson for the alabama law enforcement agency told nbc news they had no legal justification to keep the weapon, stating the restraining order megan had did not restrict mr. mcintosh s access to firearms but alabama law specifically says no person who is subject to a valid protection order for domestic abuse shall own a firearm or have one in his or her possession or under his or her control. the law says this person shouldn t have a gun. period
megan said she wanted to educate other women about the warning signs of domestic violence so that s what her family is doing. her father johnny. she s not alive, but she s saving a lot of people right now. megan s family wants states to develop better systems for removing firearms from known abusers we did reach out to the alabama governor s office her office declined to comment. up next, superstar debbie allen breaking barriers and inspiring america.
reporter: lindsay nichols is federal policy director at the giffords law center. she says alabama and 36 other states mirror a federal law that says anyone convicted of a domestic violence crime or subject to a final restraining order is prohibited from possessing a gun. but few states have actual procedures to track abusers and have them surrender their firearms the federal law that says these people are prohibited from possessing guns, it doesn t automatically make the guns disappear out of their hands. it s as if the mandate is there but there s no mechanics for how to implement it that s exactly right. reporter: more women were killed by domestic partners with guns in 2019 than all the people who died in mass shootings that year what makes you the most angry, suzanne? that nobody believed megan they weren t on her side not just megan megan s story has been repeated across this country thousands of times. reporter: earlier this year jason mcintosh pleaded guilty to mur
click to enlarge Courtesy of the county of Humboldt Humboldt County Public Health staff members Suzanne Collins, left, and Amethyst Forrest receive and store a delivered shipment of Pfizer vaccine from Monterey County.
When a handful of officials at the forefront of the county s COVID-19 response sat down to a virtual press conference May 5, they made clear Humboldt County was at an inflection point. In sharp contrast to the rest of the state, local case numbers were ballooning, with the county having confirmed 267 new cases and a rash of hospitalizations over the previous 14 days as the state continued preparations to lift most pandemic restrictions and reopen its economy by mid June.