Summit County Citizens Voice

In states that require a background check for every handgun sale, 38 percent fewer women are shot to death by intimate partners

A coalition of 850 mayors weighs in on the gun control debate.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Along with concerns about the growing number mass shootings, guns are a significant factor in domestic violence, according to a report released last week by a coalition of mayors from across the country.

Using statistics compiled by the FBI, the Mayors Against Illegal Guns report shows that 57 percent of mass shootings involve domestic violence. In states that require a background check for every handgun sale, 38 percent fewer women are shot to death by intimate partners.  In contrast, the number of women killed by intimate partners with other weapons is nearly identical in these groups of states.

The report also shows a 25 percent increase in mass shooting incidents in the past four years, up to 56, or more than one per month.

“Mass shootings capture the public’s attention, and we should pass the common-sense reforms that will help to prevent these tragedies from occurring, but we should also remember that 33 Americans are killed every day, and very often by an intimate partner,” said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “These findings challenge some of the conventional wisdom about mass shooting and highlight the areas in which further attention and research are needed.”

Among the key findings:

• In at least 57 percent of the incidents, the shooter killed a current or former intimate partner or family member.
• Less than 1 percent of gun murder victims were killed as part of incidents with four or more victims.
• Assault weapons or high capacity magazines were used in 23 percent of the incidents, and when they were used, more than twice the number of people were shot and 57 percent more were killed.
• No more than one quarter (23 percent) of the shootings occurred in public spaces that were so-called ‘gun-free zones.’

The full analysis and data set is available here.

The bipartisan coalition includes more than 850 mayors from across the country and more than 1 million grassroots supporters. It’s co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

Their common-sense approach to reducing gun violence includes holding gun offenders and irresponsible gun dealers accountable; demanding access to trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat illegal gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix gaps, weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other prohibited purchasers to get guns.

Filed under: Colorado Tagged: | domestic violence, gun control, handguns, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Michael Bloomberg