Giffords Applauds Introduction Of New Domestic Violence Bill To Protect Women and Families, Strengthen Background Check System

November 1, 2017

November 1, 2017 —Today, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founder of Giffords, and members of the Giffords Women’s Coalition applauded the introduction of a new bipartisan bill that would incentivize states to report domestic violence records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and to make grants more available to states to help them with this process. The Domestic Violence Records Reporting Improvement Act (HR 4183) is co-sponsored by Congressman Ryan Costello (R-PA-06) and Congresswoman Kathleen Rice (D-NY-04) and endorsed by major national domestic violence groups, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Futures Without Violence, and Jewish Women International.

“As someone who was shot three times by my abuser—twice in the head, and left to die—I’ve know how dangerous guns can be in the hands of abusers,” said Ruth Glenn, Executive Director, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “I applaud Representative Costello for having the courage to introduce this bill, which will help strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and prevent other women from experiencing the same pain that I, and countless other women, have experienced.”

“In our 2014 survey on firearms and domestic violence, 67 percent of participants shared that they believed their abusive partner was capable of killing them, and 22 percent said their abusive partner had threatened to use a gun,” said Katie Ray-Jones, CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline and advisory committee member of the Giffords Women’s Coalition. “We need our elected officials to pass this bill, which would close blatant gaps in the existing laws and the background check system that put victims of domestic violence and their families at serious risk.”

“We are delighted that Representative Costello is taking this important step to prevent domestic violence in our communities. This bill will make more grants available to states to help ensure the criminal records of domestic abusers are in the law enforcement background check system,” said Kim Gandy, President & CEO, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and an advisory committee member of the Giffords Women’s Coalition. “Domestic violence isn’t inevitable. Ensuring that abusers don’t have access to guns is a crucial step to prevent further abuse and even murder. All of our advocacy work to combat this crisis must be supported with legislation, like this bill, that will help strengthen the system and better protect victims and survivors.”

About Guns & Domestic Violence

The United States is in the grips of a gun violence crisis that leaves women and their families especially vulnerable. From 2001 to 2012, more than 6,410 women were murdered in the US by an intimate partner using a gun — more than the number of US troops killed in action during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
Data demonstrates that intimate partner violence combined with access to firearms is an especially deadly mix. The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely the woman will die.
Congress has already taken some important steps to address the link between guns and domestic violence. In the 1990’s, Congress passed a bipartisan measure that prohibited convicted domestic abusers from accessing guns. Congress has since authorized grant programs, NCHIP and NARIP, which give states federal funding to upload records into the NICS.
Despite recent improvements to the NICS system, the current system still contains many serious gaps, especially when it comes to domestic violence records. In recent years, states have made significant progress in reporting mental health records into NICS, but there is more work to do to ensure states are also prioritizing the reporting of domestic violence records. According to a GAO report published in 2016, approximately 6,700 firearms were transferred to prohibited domestic abusers since 2006 due to incomplete records reporting.
The goal of this bill is to encourage states to improve the domestic violence records in NICS in two ways. First, it would make proper reporting of domestic violence records a condition for a state to receive National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) grants for other purposes. Secondly, the bill would make NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP) grants more available to states that wish to use those grants to improve the accessibility of domestic violence records in NICS.
Americans from across the political spectrum agree that limiting domestic abusers’ and stalkers’ access to guns is essential to saving lives. Polls show that 82% of Americans — including 68% of Republicans — support legislation that helps keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and stalkers.