October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Here’s What You Need to Know About the Deadly Intersection Between Domestic Violence and Gun Violence
Vice President Harris Has Spent Her Entire Public Service Career Making Women, Families and Communities Safer
October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time to honor the victims and survivors of intimate partner violence by advocating for proven tactics to save lives. Domestic violence and gun violence are deeply interconnected, with devastating impacts on individual survivors and victims, their families, communities, and the nation. Every month, 76 women are shot and killed by intimate partners, and nearly one million women alive today have had a gun used against them by an intimate partner and millions more have been threatened with a gun. Access to a gun makes it five times more likely that a woman will die at the hands of her abuser.
This year, Domestic Violence Awareness Month arrived just over a month before Americans head to the ballot box. In the face of gun extremist agendas, voters across the country are looking to elect those who will protect their safety and champion common sense policies, including those that disarm abusive partners and close loopholes in our gun laws, and fund community-based domestic violence intervention programs.
“As we reflect onDomestic Violence Awareness month, we take space to honor the victims and survivors of domestic violence — including my step-sister, who was shot in front of her two children and later died from her injuries,” said Nikole Tutton, a survivor advocate with Everytown. Tutton has been personally impacted by the shooting death of her sister in an intimate partner homicide-suicide. “When domestic abusers have access to firearms, the consequences are deadly and devastating. No one should ever have to experience the pain of losing a loved one to intimate partner violence. As we enter the final days leading up to the election, we have the power to elect lawmakers who will work to pass legislation to disarm abusers and protect victims of domestic violence. We must vote like their lives depend on it, because they do.”
“Every single day, an average of 2.5 women in America are shot and killed by an intimate partner. This terrible reality is enabled by the many states where abusers can easily access firearms — and women and families are paying the price,” said Sarah Burd-Sharps, senior director of research at Everytown for Gun Safety. “Laws that prohibit abusive partners from accessing firearms are critical to protecting domestic violence survivors and our communities from gun violence. We must elect leaders who will champion policies that empower women and strengthen the tools law enforcement uses to intervene before an abuser can get their hands on a gun.”
Throughout her career in public service, Vice President Harris has been a powerful force in fighting for victims and survivors of domestic violence and their families:
Vice President Harris championed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which helped narrow the dating partner loophole for convicted domestic abusers.
As San Francisco’s top prosecutor, Harris prioritized domestic violence cases.
As California Attorney General, Harris advocated for the state to pass an Extreme Risk law, with California becoming only the third state at the time to do so.
As a Senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation to prohibit dangerous individuals from purchasing and possessing firearms, including abusive dating partners, stalkers, and domestic abusers subject to temporary domestic violence restraining orders.
Senator Harris also co-sponsored legislation to help protect survivors of domestic violence and to help survivors of gun violence access resources.
Gun-related intimate partner violence is a devastating and lethal crisis facing women and families in the United States. More than once per day on average, a perpetrator kills an intimate partner, and then dies by suicide themself. Of these incidents, 93 percent involved a gun, and 95 percent had women killed by their male partners. The traumatic ripple effects of guns in the hands of abusive partners extend far beyond the intimate relationship, affecting children who witness or live with this form of violence and the family members, coworkers, and law enforcement officers who respond to it.
Research also shows an outsized connection between mass shootings and domestic violence perpetrators. In nearly half of mass shootings with four or more people killed in America, the perpetrator shot an intimate partner or family member as a part of their rampage.
In June, the United States Supreme Court upheld the longstanding federal law that prohibits domestic abusers subject to protective orders from possessing guns in United States v. Rahimi. In doing so, it reversed an extreme and deadly lower-court decision , and confirmed that domestic abusers under these orders do not have the constitutional right to possess a gun. Many states have passed similar laws, empowering state and local officials to enforce prohibitions against these individuals. However, the failure to properly enforce them can have devastating consequences for survivors of domestic violence. The Everytown For Gun Safety Support Fund published a report immediately following the Rahimi ruling outlining the ways in which states can effectively implement laws intended to disarm domestic abusers, including by ensuring firearm relinquishment at the time they become prohibited, as well as preventing future gun purchases.
Currently, thirty-two states and Washington, D.C. have laws prohibiting domestic abusers under restraining orders from possessing firearms, with 22 of these states and Washington, DC affirmatively requiring prohibited abusers to turn in guns they already possess. A separate set of 32 states and Washington, DC have laws barring firearm possession by individuals convicted of domestic violence crimes, with 17 of these states explicitly requiring relinquishment upon prohibition.
Elected lawmakers must also be leaders in their community, working to ensure existing laws are implemented by state and local courts and law enforcement. For more information or to speak with an expert regarding implementation plans for laws that disarm abusers, reach out to the Everytown Implementation Center.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233), available 24/7, for confidential assistance from a trained advocate, or text START to 88788 from anywhere in the U.S.
