John–

One million.

That's how many women are alive today who have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner in the United States. An additional 4.5 million women have reported being threatened with a gun. Make no mistake: this is a crisis.

The good news is that the Senate is in a position to act with solutions that are proven to work. But we need your help to make that happen.

Earlier this year, the U.S. House voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The bill included provisions to help keep guns out of the hands of abusive dating partners, which would protect victims of domestic violence. Now it's the Senate's turn — and we need to make sure that their version of VAWA also includes these life-saving gun safety provisions. Tell your senators that the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act must include gun safety provisions protecting victims of domestic violence.

DEMAND ACTION

The Senate should act immediately for several reasons. The one million women alive today who have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner is only the first among them:

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FACTS:1 Access to a gun makes it five times more likely that the abusive partner will kill his female victim. In an average month, 52 American women are shot to death by an intimate partner. An astounding 92 percent of all women killed with guns in high-income countries in 2015 were from the U.S. Black women are twice as likely to be fatally shot by an intimate partner compared to white women. More than half of American Indian/Alaska Native women have experienced physical violence by intimate partners in their lifetime. Approximately one in three Hispanic women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Women in the U.S. are 21 times more likely to die by firearm homicide than women in other high-income countries.

These numbers paint a clear picture: the Senate needs to act today. Our Senators can save lives by including gun safety provisions in VAWA, such as closing the boyfriend loophole to keep guns out of the hands of abusive dating partners, alerting local law enforcement when domestic abusers attempt to buy guns and fail a background check, and closing a loophole that currently allows people convicted of stalking to possess guns.

It's time for the Senate to stand up and protect women. Demand action today and tell your Senators to include gun safety provisions in the Violence Against Women Act.

Thank you for being a part of this movement,

Sarah Burd-Sharps
Director of Research
Everytown for Gun Safety

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, available 24/7, for confidential assistance from a trained advocate.

1. Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. "Guns and Violence Against Women: America's Uniquely Lethal Intimate Partner Violence Problem". 17 October 2019.