Sec. 2. Findings

455 words·~2 min read·/bill/117/hr/4139/ih/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress finds the following: Congress has the responsibility to keep the populace of the United States safe, and domestic gun violence is a significant threat to the well-being of the United States. Each year in the United States, more than 600 women are shot to death by an intimate partner. More women are killed in the United States by domestic partners than by any other type of assailant, and most of these homicides are committed with firearms. Approximately 4,500,000 women alive in the United States today report having been threatened with a gun by a domestic partner.

More than half of intimate partner homicides in the United States are committed with a firearm. If a woman has an abusive male partner who has access to a firearm, the woman is 5 times more likely to be killed than she would be if the abusive male partner did not have access to a firearm, and domestic violence assaults involving a gun are 12 times more likely to result in death than domestic violence assaults involving other weapons or bodily force. Perpetrators of intimate partner violence are far more likely to commit additional acts of gun violence.

Nearly half of all mass shooters have committed acts of domestic violence. Victims of intimate partner violence often pursue restraining orders as a means of protection in the immediate aftermath of, or in conjunction with, leaving dangerous partners and situations. This time period is especially dangerous for victims. Although individuals against whom there is a domestic violence restraining order are barred from purchasing a firearm under section 922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code, various loopholes in that section allow perpetrators to purchase and maintain possession of firearms.

For example, Federal law only protects domestic violence victims against spouses, former spouses, cohabitants, former cohabitants, and individuals with whom those victims have a child. Furthermore, under Federal law, protective orders issued against domestic violence abusers on an emergency or ex parte basis do not prohibit those abusers from possessing or purchasing firearms. Some States and local governments have passed laws that go beyond the Federal baseline by expanding the range of abusive partners included in firearm restrictions to encompass abusive dating partners.

Numerous studies conducted between 2000 and 2017 have shown that States that pass these laws experience a significant reduction in intimate partner homicides. States that restrict access to guns to individuals subject to active domestic violence restraining orders have experienced a 13-percent reduction in intimate partner homicides involving firearms. Congress has the power to set a national standard to protect domestic violence victims who seek restraining orders against abusive partners by preventing those abusive partners from possessing or purchasing firearms and ammunition while the restraining order is in effect.