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Public
health research has consistently shown that guns and domestic
violence are a deadly mix. A 1997 study in the Archives
of Internal Medicine examined risk factors for violent
death of women in the home. The study found that women
who were killed by a spouse, lover, or first-degree relative
usually were killed in the context of a quarrel, physical
domestic fight, or assault. Homicide was frequently followed
by the perpetrator committing suicide, and a handgun was
the weapon most frequently used. When looking at the risk
of a woman being killed at the hands of a spouse, intimate
acquaintance, or close relative, the authors found that
having one or more guns in the home made a woman 7.2
times more likely to be the victim of such a homicide. |
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Guns
have long been seen as tools of self-defense in the United
States. But, contrary to gun industry hype, unintended
consequences often happen when women buy guns for self-defense.
While stranger attack occurs all too often, it is in fact
the most unlikely homicide scenario a woman can expect
to face. According to the Violence Policy Center study,
A Deadly Myth: Women, Handguns and Self-Defense, in
1998, for every time a woman used a handgun to kill
an intimate acquaintance in self-defense, 83 woman were
murdered by an intimate acquaintance with a handgun. |
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Congress
passed legislation in 1994 and 1996 to protect women from
violent offenders with guns. As a part of the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Congress
made it illegal for individuals with active restraining
orders against them to purchase or possess firearms. In
1996,Congress passed the Domestic Violence Offender Gun
Ban, which prohibited individuals with misdemeanor convictions
for domestic violence from purchasing or possessing firearms.
According to the Department of Justice, in 1999 alone,
more than 10,000 federal background check applications
were rejected for a disqualifying domestic violence conviction
or restraining order. |
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However,
more needs to be done. Regulating the gun industry
is the most effective way to reduce domestic violence-related
gun deaths in America.
Unlike
virtually all other consumer products—from children’s
toys to jumbo jets—guns are not regulated for health
and safety. Refrigerators are more regulated than guns.
Teddy bears are more regulated than guns. That means
the gun industry can manufacture just about any type
of gun it chooses no matter how dangerous to the general
public—including 1.3 million handguns alone in
1998.
The
American public supports federal regulation of guns.
A 1999 National Opinion Research Center survey found
that two-thirds of Americans want the federal government
to regulate the safety design of guns.
The
Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act (S. 330
and H.R. 671) would do just that. This bill is sponsored
by Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) and Representative
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), and would give the Department
of the Treasury consumer protection authority to regulate
the design, manufacture, and distribution of firearms
and ammunition including the ability to: set minimum
safety standards for guns; issue recalls and warnings
about defective guns; collect data on gun-related death
and injury; and ban products when no other remedy is
sufficient. More than 60 national, state and local organizations
support this bill, including: the American Academy of
Pediatrics, American Bar Association, American Public
Health Association, Family Violence Prevention Fund,
Hadassah, Handgun Control, Inc., Jewish Women International,
NAACP, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence,
and NOW.
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How would
a bill like this help to reduce domestic violence-related
gun homicides?
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The
bill would expand Treasury’s authority to take action
against "bad apple" gun retailers who
are knowingly providing firearms to domestic abusers or
other persons prohibited from possessing firearms. |
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Development
of a tracing system for guns most commonly used in domestic
violence-related homicides like
the system currently used to trace guns seized at crime
scenes would allow Treasury to identify patterns in domestic
violence-related homicides. For example, dealers who sell
an inordinate number of guns to domestic violence offenders
could be identified. Follow-up investigations could determine
if such dealers were negligently selling firearms to persons
who present an obvious danger to others. |
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The
Firearms Violence Information and Research Clearinghouse
created by the bill would collect and analyze data regarding
domestic violence-related gun deaths and injuries. This
kind of data is essential for the Department of the Treasury
to identify firearms that are exceptionally likely
to be used in domestic violence-related homicides and
to restrict the availability of such guns. |
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The
bill would also assign Treasury the responsibility of
educating the public regarding
the link between access to firearms (especially handguns),
domestic violence, and increased risk of homicide. For
example, women could be made more aware that they are
far more likely to be a victim of a gun homicide committed
by an intimate acquaintance than to use a firearm to kill
a criminal in self-defense. |
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The firearms
business has a unique stake in reinforcing women's feelings
of insecurity: fear sells guns. The gun lobby focuses
on the threat of attack by a stranger to promote handguns
as self-defense weapons for women. However, having a
gun around for any reason increases the risk that a
family member—as opposed to a criminal—will
be killed. For women, having a gun in a domestic violence
situation is like adding fuel to a fire.
Regulating
the gun industry puts the focus where it belongs—on
the conduct of gun manufacturers. The Firearms Safety
and Consumer Protection Act would finally end the gun
industry’s deadly immunity from regulation.
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