Updating protections against domestic violence

We have just experienced the 18th mass shooting in 2015. School shootings have averaged one a week since 2013. And, according to the latest data on the murder of women by intimate partners, more than half of the 1,615 who died in 2013 were killed with a gun.

What do these horrific facts have in common? Guns in the hands of those who should not have them. As we learned again during the observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, the connection between lax gun laws and domestic violence that ends in murder is very strong.

{mosads}The figures on murdered women do not count gun injuries, and they don’t measure the terror from being threatened by a gun held by an intimate partner — the terror often shared by entire families, and even networks of friends and co-workers. Victims are five times more likely to be killed by an intimate partner if a firearm is present, Women and others killed by guns — one or two at a time — represent a mass shooting in slow motion: one that we could greatly reduce if only we took action.

First, we must rally behind proposed changes in federal law that would close loopholes in the way gun sales are regulated. Under current federal law, sales are permitted without background checks when they involve two private parties or occur at gun shows. Background checks are primarily required when guns are bought at stores. The check only reveals whether the prospective buyer has been convicted of domestic violence under very narrowly defined circumstances:  the victim must be a current or former spouse, cohabitant, or someone with whom the prospective buyer shares a biological child.

Thus dating abusers and stalkers are not identified in federal background checks and even if they were, they may now legally purchase firearms in any case. Studies show that 46 percent fewer women die from intimate partner gun homicides when states require background checks for private handgun sales. So a change would make a significant difference.

Companion bills introduced in the House and Senate would close these loopholes. The “Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act” introduced by Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Robert Dold (R-Ill.) and the “Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2015” introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) would amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to extend the sales ban to a dating partner or a stalker. They would also redefine “domestic violence” to include the use or attempted use of physical force or a deadly weapon by a current or former intimate partner, not just a spouse or cohabitant. Another bill, the “Lori Jackson Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act,” introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) contains similar language.

Ensuring the best protection for women who are vulnerable to become the victims of domestic violence is a task for the long haul. The gun lobby is determined to expand the availability of guns as much as they possibly can; the consequences do not appear to be of concern to them. While the toll of death, injury, and constant fear continues to mount, a minority in Congress continues to block progress.

But a majority of Americans support sensible policies about gun violence. We must mobilize those voters and amplify their voices. Supporters of stronger policies in Congress must be pressed to put reducing gun violence, especially intimate partner violence, at the top of their list. Otherwise, as an issue that is never prioritized, the chances of progress are slim, even though achieving that progress is a matter of life and death.

Kaufman is the chief executive officer of the National Council of Jewish Women, a grassroots organization inspired by Jewish values that strives to improve the quality of life for women, children, and families and to safeguard individual rights and freedoms.