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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1541 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1541

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
 relationships among firearm violence, misogyny, and violence against 
women, and reaffirming the importance of preventing individuals with a 
      history of violence against women from accessing a firearm.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 11, 2024

  Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself and Mrs. Dingell) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
 relationships among firearm violence, misogyny, and violence against 
women, and reaffirming the importance of preventing individuals with a 
      history of violence against women from accessing a firearm.

Whereas more than 1 in 3 women have experienced some form of intimate partner 
        violence, including sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking, 
        according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline;
Whereas restricted access to reproductive justice places victims at greater risk 
        of intimate partner violence, according to the National Women's Law 
        Center;
Whereas the majority of intimate partner homicides follow incidents of physical 
        violence against the victim;
Whereas, between 1996 and 2020, 61 percent of female homicide victims were 
        killed by an intimate partner, according to the Violence Policy Center;
Whereas the U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence recognizes the 
        importance of addressing firearm violence in intimate partner 
        relationships in order to address and prevent gender-based violence;
Whereas, in recent years, cases have come before the United States Supreme 
        Court, including New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 
        United States v. Rahimi, and Garland v. Cargill, questioning the 
        constitutionality of existing gun safety measures, and demonstrating 
        that the current Court is open to arguments that challenge long-
        guaranteed federal protections;
Whereas, during the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence incidents rose 
        nationally and globally, with this crisis disproportionately impacting 
        women;
Whereas, in February 2021, the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal 
        Justice (NCCCJ) reported that incidents of domestic violence increased 
        by 8.1 percent after lockdown orders were issued, police departments in 
        communities across the country received higher numbers of calls related 
        to domestic and family violence, and domestic violence homicides 
        increased by 4 percent in 2020;
Whereas American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and Latina women are 
        disproportionately killed by firearm-related homicides;
Whereas, in the United States, approximately 4,500,000 women alive today have 
        been threatened by an intimate partner with a firearm and almost 
        1,000,000 women alive today have been shot, or shot at, by an intimate 
        partner, according to a 2020 analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety;
Whereas, nearly half of all female homicide victims between 2003 and 2014 were 
        killed by intimate partners, according to a 2017 study published in the 
        Journal of the American Medical Association;
Whereas homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant people, with nearly 
        7 out of 10 pregnancy-associated homicides involving a firearm;
Whereas homicide is the leading cause of death during pregnancy and postpartum, 
        and deaths from homicides are higher than deaths from sepsis, 
        hemorrhage, and hypertensive disorders, according to researchers from 
        the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health;
Whereas, according to the Giffords' Law Center, domestic abusers who have access 
        to a firearm are 5 times more likely to kill their partners;
Whereas domestic violence incidents involving a firearm are 12 times more likely 
        to be fatal than assaults involving other weapons or bodily force, 
        according to the Giffords' Law Center;
Whereas, an estimated three-quarters of intimate partner homicides in which 
        there were multiple victims involved a firearm;
Whereas a 2019 comparison of violent death rates among high-income countries 
        indicates that women in the United States are 21 times more likely to be 
        killed with a firearm than women in other high-income countries;
Whereas 91.6 percent of all women killed by firearms in high-income countries in 
        2019 were killed in the United States;
Whereas, of the 49 active shooter incidents reported by the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation in 2023, 98 percent involved a male shooter;
Whereas, an analysis by the Gun Violence Archive between 2014 and 2019 found 
        that domestic-violence mass shootings were associated with a greater 
        fatality rate, and that in more than two-thirds (68.2 percent) of mass 
        shootings analyzed, the perpetrator either killed family or intimate 
        partners, or had a history of domestic violence;
Whereas the perpetrator of the mass shooting in 2022 at Robb Elementary School 
        in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and 2 adults killed had an 
        extensive history of directing graphic and disturbing content at young 
        women online, had threatened female co-workers, and had shot his 
        grandmother, Celia ``Sally'' Gonzalez, and left her for dead prior to 
        the mass shooting;
Whereas, on May 26, 2021, 9 co-workers were killed at a rail yard in San Jose, 
        California, by a man who had an alleged history of domestic violence;
Whereas, on August 4, 2019, 9 people, including the gunman's sister, were killed 
        and 27 people were wounded when a shooter with a history of aggression 
        against women, including an incident in which he was suspended from high 
        school for possessing a list of female classmates he targeted for sexual 
        violence, opened fire in Dayton, Ohio;
Whereas, on November 5, 2017, 25 people were killed, including a pregnant woman, 
        and 20 people were wounded in Sutherland Springs, Texas, by a shooter 
        with an established history of domestic violence, including a prior 
        conviction for domestic violence against his wife and stepson and a 
        separate investigation into a rape complaint;
Whereas, on December 6, 2016, a mother and her 3 children were shot and killed 
        by a former dating partner who had been convicted of stalking a former 
        girlfriend and arrested for battery against a household member, but 
        continued to have access to firearms because of the ``boyfriend 
        loophole'' wherein he was not married to the women he abused;
Whereas, on June 12, 2016, 49 people were killed and 53 people were wounded when 
        a shooter who was physically abusive toward his wife, including by 
        allegedly beating her while she was pregnant, opened fire in the Pulse 
        nightclub in Orlando, Florida;
Whereas, on February 25, 2016, a gunman shot and killed 3 people and wounded 14 
        people in Newton and Hesston, Kansas, after being served with a 
        temporary protective order related to an abusive relationship;
Whereas, on May 23, 2014, 6 people were killed and 14 people were wounded in 
        Isla Vista, California, near the University of California, Santa 
        Barbara, by being stabbed or shot by, or struck by the vehicle of, a 
        self-identified member of the involuntary celibate, or incel, group of 
        men who blame women for their sexual frustrations and advocate for 
        violence against them, with the shooter uploading a video and publishing 
        a manifesto detailing his hatred toward women;
Whereas, on December 14, 2012, 26 students and teachers were killed in a mass 
        shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School after a shooter who previously 
        threatened the life of his mother shot and killed her at home;
Whereas 11 percent of background check denials are attributed to a misdemeanor 
        of domestic violence or a protective or restraining order, according to 
        the Bureau of Justice Statistics' most recent report on background 
        checks for firearm transfers;
Whereas the so-called ``Charleston Loophole'', which allows a licensed firearms 
        dealer to sell a firearm to a person after 3 business days even if the 
        background check is not complete, has allowed nearly 2,000 domestic 
        abusers to acquire firearms over the past 2 years;
Whereas a 2017 analysis of State firearm restrictions for perpetrators of 
        domestic violence found that firearm prohibition laws that apply to 
        dating partners are associated with a 16 percent reduction in intimate 
        partner homicide;
Whereas, under Federal law, domestic abusers are banned from possessing firearms 
        if they are married to, or have a child with, their partners, but 
        abusive dating partners are still not subject to final protective 
        orders, and intimate partners are just as likely to be killed by their 
        abusive dating partners as their abusive married spouses, according to 
        Everytown for Gun Safety; and
Whereas the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law by President Biden 
        on June 25, 2022, was the first meaningful firearm violence prevention 
        legislation enacted since the 1990s: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) acknowledges the need for legislation to better prevent 
        individuals with a history of violence against women from 
        purchasing or possessing a firearm; and
            (2) supports further research into the relationships among 
        misogyny, violence against women, and firearm violence.
                                 <all>
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