Meet with your Members of Congress during the summer recess!!!
Abusers murder an average of three-to-four women every day in the US. Their weapons of choice - guns.
Approximately two-thirds of women killed by intimate partners are murdered with guns.
Countless more are
terrorized by abusers wielding firearms
as a tool of power and control.
Federal law prohibits abusers convicted of misdemeanor violence against or subject to protective orders by current or former spouses, cohabitants and/or biological co-parents from owning firearms. However,
dating abusers commit one-half of intimate partner homicides, they are not prohibited by federal law
from owning firearms. Even abusers who are prohibited from owning firearms can easily
obtain firearms from private sellers
who are not required by federal law to conduct background checks.
Our allies in Congress have introduced several bills to help protect victims/survivors from gun-enabled violence, among them
S.1520/H.R.3130
, a bipartisan bill to close the dating abuse loophole, and
H.R.1217
, a bipartisan bill to expand background checks.
YOUR LEGISLATORS ARE HOME FOR THE SUMMER RECESS! They are holding town hall meetings, fundraisers, and other events. Public venues are the perfect forum to ask your Members of Congress to publicly declare their support for S.1520/H.R.3130 and H.R.1217 (H.R.1217 is for House members only; ask your Senators to support universal background checks)!
Attend events, call, email, Tweet and post to your Members of Congress's Facebook pages!
Tell them:
- Approximately 1,000 women are killed annually by male intimate partners; most of them are killed with firearms[i];
- The presence of a firearm in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500% more likely to be killed by an intimate partner if a firearm is present.[ii]
- A majority of intimate partner homicide victims are killed with firearms.[iii]
- Half of all women killed by intimate partners are killed by dating partners.[iv]
- A survey by the National Domestic Violence Hotline found that 67% of respondents whose abusers owned firearms believed their abusers were capable of killing them[v];
- Approximately 40% of firearm sales and transfers are completed without a background check.[vi]
Sample phone/email script:
Hello, my name is [your name], and I am calling/writing from [your location and/or organization]. I/we support S.1520/H.R.3130 and universal background checks/H.R.1217, because keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers were save lives!
Add your own story, if you have one.
Sample Tweet (House):
@[your Representative] Support H.R.3130 and H.R.1217 to keep guns out of the hands of abusers! #DisarmHate #ProtectAllWomen
Sample Tweet (Senate):
@[your Senator] Support S.1520 and universal background checks to keep guns out of the hands of abusers! #DisarmHate #ProtectAllWomen
Sample Facebook Post (House):
[Your Representative], most domestic violence homicides are committed by abusers with guns, and guns are regularly used as a tool of terror, power and control. Will you commit to supporting H.R.3130 and H.R.1217 to protect the lives of victims and survivors? Add your own story, if you have one.
Sample Facebook Post (House):
[Your Representative], most domestic violence homicides are committed by abusers with guns, and guns are regularly used as a tool of terror, power and control. Will you commit to supporting S.1520 and universal background checks to protect the lives of victims and survivors? Add your own story, if you have one.
[i] Violence Policy Center (2015). When men murder women: An analysis of 2013 homicide data. Retrieved from http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2015.pdf.
[ii]John Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research (2003). Firearms and intimate partner violence. Retrieved from www.jhsph.ed/gunpolicy/IPV_firearms.pdf.
[iii]Bridges, F. S., Tatum, K. M., & Kunselman, J. C. (2008). Domestic violence statutes and rates of intimate partner
and family homicide: A research note. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 19(1), 117-130.
[iv]Cooper, A. & Smith, E. L. (2011). Homicide trends in the United states, 1980-2008. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.
gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf.
[v] National Domestic Violence Hotline (2014). Firearms and domestic violence. Retrieved from http://www.thehotline.org/resources/firearms-dv/#tab-id-2.
[vi]
Masters, Kate (2016). Just how many people get guns without a background check? Fast-tracked research is set to provide the answer. The Trace. Retrieved from https://www.thetrace.org/2015/10/private-sale-loophole-background-check-harvard-research/.
