Title: Weapons in the Lives of Battered Women

Publication Date: August 2004

What does it say?

This study found that: “Firearms, especially handguns, are more common in the homes of battered women than in the general population.”

This is cause for concern because of both the lethality of guns and the use of guns to threaten women who experience domestic violence.

The study interviewed women who had suffered intimate partner violence and found that most would support a policy that would require the opinion of a spouse or intimate partner to be sought for certain firearm purchases. This would make women feel safer and more knowledgeable about whether their partner had a gun in the home.

Personalized guns, or “smart guns,” which can only be operated by the owner were not viewed by the women interviewed as an effective means to offer women protection from partners. Most women felt that this would not make them feel safer and would simply allow their partner even greater control over a gun kept in the home.

How can I use it?

Women are most likely to be victims of gun violence as a result of someone they know using a gun that is kept in their home. Universal background checks and strengthening laws and practices to keep guns out of batterers’ hands should be a priority.

Citation

Sorenson, Susan B. and Douglas J. Wiebe., “Weapons in the Lives of Battered Women,” American Journal Of Public Health 94(8) (2004): 1412-1417

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