Gabby Giffords Statement on the Tragic Domestic Mass Shooting in Phoenix, Arizona

February 23, 2016

February 23, 2016 – Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the Co-Founder of the gun violence prevention organization Americans for Responsible Solutions , issued the below statement following reports of a domestic mass shooting in Phoenix, Arizona that left five family members dead :

“For the second week in a row, our beloved Arizona has seen a senseless gun tragedy. Four Arizonans – including a young child – are gone. “While the details of exactly what happened this morning and why are still unclear, we know that yet again another of America’s families has been destroyed by gun violence. And yet again, domestic violence and access to firearms became a deadly mix.“We cannot let this be the new normal. “This is a story we have heard too many times before. Many of our country’s mass shootings start and end during a domestic dispute. They often happen in homes, behind closed doors, with no one left to see it. “We are incredibly grateful to the first responders who put themselves in harm’s way so courageously and we grieve for the family and loved ones impacted by this unspeakable tragedy.”

BACKGROUND ON THE DEADLY MIX OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & GUNS

Women in the United States are 11 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than women in other developed countries, and more than half of all murders of America’s women are committed with a gun. [Centers for Disease Control, 2012]
Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if that individual has access to a firearm. [Centers for Disease Control, 2012]
Domestic violence assaults involving a gun are twelve times more likely to result in death than those involving other weapons or bodily force. [Journal of the American Medical Association, 1992]
In 2011, nearly two-thirds of women killed with guns were killed by their intimate partners. [Violence Policy Center, 2013]
More than two-thirds of spouse and ex-spouse homicide victims between 1980 and 2008 were killed with firearms. [Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011]
48.6 percent of all intimate partner homicides were committed by a dating partner. [Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011]
66 percent of female stalking victims were stalked by a current or former intimate partner. [Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009]
One study of female murder victims in 10 cities found that 76 percent of women murdered and 85 percent who survived a murder attempt by a current or former intimate partner experienced stalking in the year preceding the murder. [Homicide Studies, 1999]