Domestic Violence Is Annihilating Families. Let’s Talk About It.
We can’t stop domestic violence without addressing gun violence.
In Erie, Pennsylvania, a man shot and killed his wife, his pregnant daughter who was due to give birth, and two of his sons. He also killed two other related children who were found inside the house, as well as two other adults who were found outside.
A former San Francisco Police Department officer shot and killed his wife and daughter in a double murder-suicide.
In Forney, Texas, a 21-year-old woman was shot and killed by her boyfriend at his home.
Two children were shot and killed in Los Angeles before their father turned the gun on himself.
In Wichita, Kansas, a 22-year-old woman was shot and killed by her boyfriend.
A 44-year-old woman was shot and killed by her husband near San Antonio in another suspected murder-suicide.
These are just a few examples of the dozens of devastating domestic violence murders that have swept the country since October 1—which also happens to be the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
This year has been a truly horrific one when it comes to domestic violence involving guns. The examples above are only a fraction of the tragedies that have occurred in American homes throughout 2026.
We can’t discuss domestic violence without acknowledging how it fuels—and is fueled by—gun violence. When abusers have access to firearms, their intimate partners are five times more likely to be killed. More than 850 American women are shot to death by intimate partners every year—that’s roughly one every 10 hours. And Black women are disproportionately impacted by this crisis, killed by intimate partners with guns at three times the rate of white women.
Domestic violence attacks can escalate quickly, eradicating whole families in just moments and becoming, by definition, a mass shooting. One study found that more than half of all mass shootings are of current or former intimate partners or family members, and that a third of mass shooters have a history of domestic violence.
This connection played out in the examples above, as well as in the deadliest mass shooting in the US in more than two years. In April, a father killed seven of his children and one of their cousins in Shreveport, Louisiana. The children ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old, and the shooter also injured two women who were the mothers of his children.
We saw this trend again on August 23, when four children and four adults were killed in Billings, Montana, by a family member. The shooter opened fire on his family and killed his grandmother, his parents, his sister, and his sister’s four children.
Then, we saw it again earlier this month in Erie, Pennsylvania. The shooter went on a rampage, murdering seven members of his family and one additional adult. He targeted his wife, his pregnant daughter, two of his sons, a five-year-old boy, and a one-year-old girl—all of whom lived in the same house—as well as two women who lived at other addresses. The shooter had a history of domestic violence, including an incident in 2019 that involved the same gun he used in the massacre.
These shootings are gruesome. Families are being obliterated in mere moments. But why?
A variety of factors fuel domestic violence, but one underlying commonality is a misogyny ingrained in American culture. Prejudice against women—in person, across the internet, and especially within the “manosphere”—is popular and becoming more visible across society.
The manosphere refers to a network of online communities united by two main ideologies: their opposition to feminism and their belief that men are victims of today’s social climate. On the surface, much of the content these communities share and promote is focused on self-improvement. But the messages are imbued with anti-woman ideas, dangerous advice, and harmful attitudes that normalize violence against women and girls.
As misogyny spreads and our society grows more tolerant of threats and violence towards women and girls, there’s no denying its tangled relationship with domestic violence. More than one in three women in the US have experienced physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner. And women are more likely to be killed in their homes than anywhere else—almost always by a man with a gun.
So what are we doing about it?
Female intimate partners are more likely to be killed with a firearm than all other means combined. So when we discuss strategies to end domestic violence, we must address access to guns as well.
Domestic violence prevention is a policy area known for its bipartisan support, and most states restrict at least some access to guns for people who’ve been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. Similarly, most states keep people with protective orders against them from accessing guns. The same cannot be said at the federal level.
Once we get into the finer details of domestic violence–related gun legislation, the consensus among states becomes less clear. Some states have fully closed the loophole in federal law that excludes most dating partners from these prohibitions. Others allow police to remove guns from the scenes of domestic violence incidents. Just a handful prohibit people convicted of stalking misdemeanors from using or accessing guns. A few do absolutely none of the above. And even when the trigger isn’t pulled, guns are often used as a form of intimidation.
The federal government has also stepped in to help protect women from domestic violence:
- The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), passed in 1994, improved legal protections and increased access to services for domestic violence and sexual assault victims. Subsequent reauthorizations have further expanded these protections.
- In 1996, the Lautenberg Amendment prohibited people convicted of certain domestic violence crimes from buying or owning guns.
- In 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act defined what a “dating relationship” is and included that category of people when strengthening firearm purchase and possession requirements, partially closing the dating partner loophole in federal law.
- In 2024, in United States v. Rahimi, the Supreme Court affirmed in a commonsense decision that barring people under domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns is constitutional.
Gun violence prevention laws that specifically target domestic violence save countless lives. States must adopt stronger, more comprehensive firearm prohibition and relinquishment measures to ensure the safety of their residents.
It would be irresponsible to not also recognize what fuels much of this violence: hatred and prejudice against women. Incredibly high levels of online misogyny abound on social media. One study determined that violence by men is underpinned by, to a varying extent, misogynistic attitudes and behaviors. Misogyny is a major contributor to domestic violence, alongside the desire to have power and control over others, a history of domestic abuse growing up, and more.
While it’s incumbent upon us to address misogyny, gun safety policies are crucial to addressing the lethality of the domestic violence epidemic—especially in a country that has more guns than people. We won’t truly stop domestic violence until we confront the societal and cultural drivers of it and pass stronger gun laws.
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