Guns Aren't the Answer to Domestic Violence

Huffington Post That year (2011) there were 1,707 females murdered by males in America in single victim/single offender incidents. Ninety-four percent of these women were murdered by a male they knew. Among the victims who knew their offenders, 61 percent were wives or intimate acquaintances. (This percentage could well be higher, because ex-girlfriends are not included in the statistics.) Nearly all the homicides (87 percent) were not related to the commission of any other felony, such as rape or robbery. When it comes to guns and women, firearms are being used to take women's lives, not defend them. In the study, we found that more homicides were committed with firearms (51 percent) than any other weapon, and of those, 73 percent were committed with handguns. Nine women are shot to death by their husbands or intimate partners every week. It's cynically logical that the National Rifle Association, which receives tens of millions of dollars from gun manufacturers, including money for marketing guns to women, would try to persuade women that buying a firearm guarantees personal safety. But having a gun in the home actually increases the chance that a woman will be killed. One study found that females living with a gun in the home were nearly three times more likely to be murdered than those without one. The FBI data also reveals that guns are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes. In 2011, there were only 261 justifiable homicides committed by private citizens. Only 31 of these cases involved women killing men. And of those, only 14 involved a handgun. Our report shows that lethal attacks by men on women are widespread across America, but it also highlights the states where it occurs at the highest rates. We ranked the top 10 states for the rate of females murdered by males, with South Carolina at the top.