Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the relationship between firearm violence and intimate partner violence and to honor the memory of Gladys Ricart and other victims of intimate partner homicide killed by firearms, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
This resolution recognizes the relationship between, and encourages efforts to address, firearm violence and intimate partner violence.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 798 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 798

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
relationship between firearm violence and intimate partner violence and 
  to honor the memory of Gladys Ricart and other victims of intimate 
      partner homicide killed by firearms, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2021

Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Mr. Swalwell, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Suozzi, Ms. 
Jackson Lee, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Costa, Ms. Adams, 
 Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Carson, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Khanna, 
Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Bonamici, and Ms. Strickland) submitted 
 the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, 
   Financial Services, Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Natural 
   Resources, and Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
relationship between firearm violence and intimate partner violence and 
  to honor the memory of Gladys Ricart and other victims of intimate 
      partner homicide killed by firearms, and for other purposes.

Whereas domestic violence perpetrated with a firearm disproportionately affects 
        millions of American adults and children, with a particular impact on 
        women;
Whereas nearly 92 percent of women killed by firearms in high-income countries 
        were American women;
Whereas firearms are used in nearly 59 percent of cases where women are killed 
        by their intimate partners;
Whereas an average of 57 women are killed by their intimate partners using 
        firearms every month;
Whereas 59 percent of mass shootings between 2014 and 2019 were connected to 
        instances of domestic or intimate partner violence;
Whereas only 16 percent of victims in domestic violence-related mass shootings 
        survive such incidents compared to 37 percent of victims in nondomestic 
        violence-related mass shootings;
Whereas nearly 1 in 10 United States adults have experienced nonfatal firearm 
        abuse at the hands of an intimate partner, such as being threatened 
        directly with a firearm or by a partner who possessed or had easy access 
        to a firearm, or having a firearm fired or pointed at them;
Whereas 4,500,000 women in the United States reported having been threatened 
        with a firearm by an intimate partner;
Whereas, when an abusive male partner has access to a firearm, a female victim 
        of such abuse is 5 times more likely to be killed;
Whereas, in two-thirds of households with a history of abuse and with firearms 
        present, the abusive partner used the firearm against the victim by 
        threatening or otherwise terrorizing them;
Whereas over half of all intimate partner homicides are committed in never-
        married relationships;
Whereas the deadly intersection of firearms and intimate partner violence 
        affects all women, but it has a disproportionate impact on Black, 
        American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic women;
Whereas 1 in 3 Hispanic women have experienced intimate partner violence;
Whereas, compared to non-Hispanic White women, Black women are twice as likely 
        to be fatally shot by an intimate partner, and nearly 3 times more 
        likely at the ages between 18 and 34;
Whereas more than half of the population of American Indian/Alaska Native women 
        have experienced physical violence by intimate partners; and
Whereas early research shows that domestic and intimate partner violence have 
        increased during the COVID-19 pandemic: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) recognizes the relationship between firearm 
                violence and intimate partner violence;
                    (B) commends domestic violence victim advocates, 
                domestic violence victim service providers, crisis 
                hotline staff, and first responders serving victims of 
                domestic violence for their compassionate support of 
                survivors of domestic violence; and
                    (C) pledges to fund comprehensive research on the 
                nexus of firearms and intimate partner violence, 
                including the disproportionate impact on Black, 
                American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic people; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
        the Congress should--
                    (A) strengthen the National Instant Criminal 
                Background Check System to keep firearms out of the 
                hands of those who are prohibited from possessing them;
                    (B) restrict access to firearms by all people 
                subject to domestic violence restraining orders;
                    (C) continue to support programs designed to assist 
                survivors of domestic violence, hold perpetrators of 
                domestic violence accountable, and bring an end to 
                domestic violence;
                    (D) continue to support local relinquishment 
                processes to ensure compliance with Federal firearm 
                prohibitions in domestic violence cases;
                    (E) immediately consider H.R. 1494, the Zero 
                Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act, and H.R. 1441, the 
                No Guns for Abusers Act of 2021; and
                    (F) call on the Senate to immediately consider H.R. 
                8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, H.R. 
                1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, and 
                H.R. 1620, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization 
                Act of 2021.
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