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Ahead of Pivotal Supreme Court Gun Case, Domestic Violence Murders by Firearm Surge
"Intimate partner firearm homicide is increasing as the Supreme Court debates whether people subject to domestic violence restraining orders should be allowed to possess firearms," said the president of national gun control group Brady.
Oct 19, 2023
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a case centered on a law that restricts access to firearms for domestic abusers, an analysis out Thursday shows how "the safety of domestic violence survivors, their families, and the American public" will be placed at risk if the court loosens those restrictions.
The group behind the report—Brady: United Against Gun Violence, whose founders fought to require background checks for firearm sales—determined that firearm homicides committed by an intimate partner went up by 22% from 2018-22, with states that have weak gun regulations seeing the most domestic abuse-related murders.
The group found that 782 people were killed by a current or former intimate partner with a gun in 2022, up from 642 in 2018. As the coronavirus pandemic was linked to an overall rise in domestic violence, a high of 856 firearm homicides by domestic abusers were recorded in 2021.
As firearms prove increasingly deadly for people facing intimate partner violence and abuse, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in U.S. v. Rahimi on November 7. The respondent in the case, Zackey Rahimi, argues that his Second Amendment rights are violated by federal laws prohibiting him from possessing a firearm due to a domestic violence restraining order filed against him.
The federal government has prohibited people subject to such restraining orders from purchasing guns since 1994, and the law was expanded to include people convicted of domestic violence two years later. In 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act closed the so-called "boyfriend loophole" in the earlier law, which had only pertained to abusers who were married to, had a child with, or were the parent or guardian of the person who filed an order against them.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with Rahimi earlier this year—a decision that will carry "horrific ramifications, particularly for women and children," said Brady president Kris Brown, if it is allowed to stand.
"This analysis shows that intimate partner firearm homicide is increasing as the Supreme Court debates whether people subject to domestic violence restraining orders should be allowed to possess firearms," said Brown. "We know that firearms are the most common weapons used in domestic violence homicides, with female intimate partners more likely to be murdered with a gun than by all other means combined. Prohibiting domestic violence abusers from accessing firearms is common-sense, life-saving, and constitutional."
Brady noted in its analysis that even in rulings that weakened gun control regulations, such as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court has "repeatedly stated... that the Second Amendment provides 'law-abiding, responsible' citizens the right to possess firearms, but also allows for reasonable restrictions in service of public safety."
"Domestic abusers who are subject to a court ordered domestic violence restraining order—including Zackey Rahimi—are not 'law-abiding, responsible' citizens," reads the analysis. "If the Supreme Court allows the Fifth Circuit's decision to stand, the lives of countless individuals who are protected under domestic violence restraining orders will be put at risk."
The group noted that weaker state-level gun regulations are linked to deadly outcomes for people who face domestic abuse, with Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee ranking as the top five states with the highest average number of intimate partner firearm homicides per year.
All five of the states have loopholes in their gun laws allowing people to buy guns online, at gun shows, or in other private transactions without a background check.
"This gap in the law creates a path for domestic abusers to avoid the Brady Background Check system and purchase firearms despite being prohibited," said Brady.
Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C. have laws requiring people subjected to domestic violence restraining orders to surrender their firearms, and on average, the group said, states that do not have such requirements see nearly twice as many firearm homicides by intimate partners.
Along with increasing the risk of homicide by 500% for the estimated 10 million people who face domestic violence in the U.S. each year, domestic abusers' access to firearms puts the greater public at risk, according to the analysis.
"In the United States," the report reads, "60% of mass shooting events between 2014-19 were either domestic violence attacks or perpetrated by those with a history of domestic violence. Several perpetrators of high-profile school shootings—including in the Parkland shooting, the Santa Fe High School shooting, and the Great Mills High School shooting—have histories of adolescent dating violence."
With the support of leading anti-domestic violence advocacy groups, Brady filed an amicus brief with the court in August in opposition of the Fifth Circuit's ruling, noting that 25 million adults in the U.S. have been threatened or injured by an intimate partner with a gun—and there is a 16% in homicides when guns are taken from the abuser by law enforcement in these cases.
"The Supreme Court must prioritize survivor safety over a dangerous abuser's access to firearms," said Brown, "and overturn this deadly ruling."
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US Supreme Court Refuses to Block Assault Weapons Ban in Illinois
"The Supreme Court once again reaffirms the rights of legislators and local officials to pass gun safety laws," said one advocate.
May 17, 2023
State and local laws banning the sale of assault weapons will stand in Illinois for the time being, following the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal on Wednesday to temporarily block the measures while pro-gun groups appeal them in lower courts.
The high court did not disclose how each justice voted or explain their reasoning for the decision, releasing only a brief statement saying that the request for an injunction was denied.
A gun store in Naperville, Illinois joined the National Association for Gun Rights in challenging a local ordinance that blocks the sale of assault weapons, defined as 26 firearms and other weapons that meet certain criteria. The law went into effect in January after being passed last August, a month after seven people were killed and nearly 50 were injured in a mass shooting in Highland Park, 35 miles away from Naperville.
The lawsuit also challenges the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which also went into force in January and bans the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines across the state.
The 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals has taken up the case and is scheduled to hear arguments on June 29.
"This is an important victory in the fight to end gun violence as the U.S. continues to deal with multiple mass shootings."
The gun store and pro-gun group cited two landmark rulings by the Supreme Court, including District of Columbia v. Heller, which held that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to possess a firearm for "lawful purposes," independent of serving in a militia; and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which held that courts must consider the gun regulations that were in effect when the Constitution was written when they decide whether a gun law should stand.
The latter ruling expanded access to firearms last year even as gun violence surpassed vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death among children in the United States.
The plaintiffs claimed that "there is no historical analogue to such a ban" as the ones passed in Illinois. State Attorney General Kwame Raoul countered in a court brief that the types of guns targeted by the laws, such as one used by the shooter in Highland Park, fall well outside the Constitution's protections for "firearms that are 'commonly used' for self-defense."
The gun control group Brady said Wednesday's development at the Supreme Court, while not the final word on the case, was "an important victory in the fight to end gun violence."
\u201c\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to block Illinois' and Naperville's assault weapons ban from being enforced. \n\nThis is an important victory in the fight to end gun violence as the US continues to deal with multiple mass shootings.\nhttps://t.co/U8Z3AeJK3Q\u201d— Brady | United Against Gun Violence (@Brady | United Against Gun Violence) 1684340876
"This is a great victory for Americans and all of us working to protect our children from the gun violence epidemic facing our nation," said Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, senior adviser to advocacy group Giffords. "With this ruling the Supreme Court once again reaffirms the rights of legislators and local officials to pass gun safety laws."
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Progressives Decry US Gun Control Failures After 'Truly Sickening' Michigan School Shooting
"A 15-year-old shooter may have picked up the weapon, but Congress—through its inaction on gun violence—may as well have handed it to him."
Nov 30, 2021
Progressives on Tuesday once again blasted the lack of stricter U.S. firearm laws in the wake of a deadly school shooting--this one in Oxford, Michigan--with one left-wing congressional candidate accusing Congress of having the victims' blood on its hands for failing to pass gun control legislation.
"When do we decide that enough is enough? That kids are more important than guns?"
According to the Detroit Free Press, a 15-year-old sophomore at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit armed with a semi-automatic handgun shot three students dead and wounded at least eight other people at the school on Tuesday afternoon. The alleged shooter was subsequently arrested.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, called the shooting "every parent's worst nightmare" while speaking at a press conference.
"My heart breaks for the students, teachers, staff, and families of Oxford High School," Whitmer said in a statement. "The death of multiple students and the shooting of many others, including a teacher, is horrific."
\u201cThis is absolutely devastating. My heart goes out to the Oxford community and everyone affected by this tragedy. This impacts all of us and as a mother of a 16-year-old, I can't imagine the horror of this. https://t.co/jsfdJhbff8\u201d— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib) 1638307192
"As Michiganders, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect each other from gun violence," Whitmer added. "No one should be afraid to go to school, work, a house of worship, or even their own home."
According to the Gun Violence Archive, this was the 651st U.S. mass shooting--defined as four or more casualties, not including the perpetrator--of 2021.
"This kind of tragedy is unthinkable in any other country, yet there have been an estimated 650 mass shootings in our country this year alone," Brady United Against Gun Violence said in a statement. "These tragedies demand action. They demand solutions. Shamefully, we have the solutions, but a handful of elected officials have rigged our political systems to prevent the meaningful gun violence prevention reforms that an overwhelming majority of Americans want."
"The result of that inaction is the kind of events like we've seen today," the group continued. "We cannot look away from this shooting and this community in the coming days, weeks, months, or years. Survivors and those affected by this shooting will require care long after physical wounds have disappeared. We owe it to them to take action now and stop future tragedies such as this from occurring ever again."
\u201cSchools should be sanctuaries of safety for children, teens, and educators\u2014not places they go to die. \n\nWe don't have to live this way, and we sure as hell don't have to die this way. Text ACT to 644-33 to join the fight to #EndGunViolence.\u201d— Moms Demand Action (@Moms Demand Action) 1638314116
Michigan physician and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed tweeted: "When do we decide that enough is enough? That kids are more important than guns?"
Kina Collins, a longtime gun violence prevention advocate from Chicago who is campaigning for the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a statement that the Oxford High School victims' deaths are "blood on the hands of Congress."
"A 15-year-old shooter may have picked up the weapon, but Congress--through its inaction on gun violence--may as well have handed it to him," she asserted.
\u201cAs news breaks of another school shooting, this one at Oxford High School in Michigan (where 3 are dead and 6 are injured), GOP senators are holding a press conference about the sanctity of life. \n\nToo bad that doesn't apply to those killed by firearms.\u201d— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) 1638303576
"This year alone, there have been 44 school shootings across the country," Collins continued. "All we got from elected officials after the 43 school shootings before this were thoughts and prayers, and I'm sure that's all we will get now. Then we'll watch as they feign shock and horror when the 45th and 46th school shootings happen next. But unless they give us real policy solutions, real implementation, real action to end these tragedies--and end gun violence in America--nothing will change."
Collins added that "the only way to prove" that the victims' lives mattered and "to honor their memories" is "by passing and enacting real legislation that seeks to end this violence now."
\u201cWe have to ask ourselves as Americans why this keeps happening.\n\nWhy do we let the filibuster stand in the way of gun legislation?\n\nWhy do we allow politicians to be bought by entities like the NRA?\n\nWhat\u2019s wrong with our priorities?\n\nMy thoughts are with the victims.\u201d— Nina Turner (@Nina Turner) 1638306156
Campaign for a Safer Michigan--a new coalition of organizations dedicated to gun violence prevention--said that "we grieve for the victims of the Oxford High School shooting, and our sympathies go out to the Oxford community and all those that have been affected by this tragedy."
"We all deserve to live in safe communities where we have the resources that we need to be healthy and thrive," the coalition added. "Our elected officials at every level must take swift action to pass policies and provide funding to help make our communities safer from gun violence."
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