YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - State Representative Bob Hagan wants Ohio to join other states which have enacted Domestic-Violence Gun Control Laws.

Hagan said on Monday that he is sponsoring legislation that would force any person named in a domestic violence protection order to surrender their firearms to law enforcement within 24 hours.

"The most dangerous moments for domestic violence victims is what protection orders are first issued by temporarily separating the abuser from the firearms. We can work to prevent unnecessary and tragic homicides in the future," says Hagan.

Hagan says intimate partner homicides account for nearly half the women killed in the U.S. every year.

Hagan was joined at his announcement by Sister Patricia McNicholas, Director of Beatitude House, which provides a safe haven for victims of domestic violence.