POTUS: Use Executive Orders to Close the “Boyfriend Loophole”
392 so far! Help us get to 500 signers!
Every month, 70 women are shot and killed in the U.S. by a current or former boyfriend or spouse. And America's weak gun laws make this deadly crisis even worse: Women in the United States are 28 times more likely to be murdered with guns than women in other high-income nations.
Current federal law prohibits convicted domestic abusers from having a gun if they are married to, live with, have children with, or are "similarly situated" to their victim. And that’s great! But the gun lobby has argued the law doesn’t include dating partners. That's left open a loophole that has become increasingly deadly: The share of homicides committed by dating partners has been increasing for three decades, and now women are as likely to be killed by dating partners as by spouses.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
You have been a champion for gun violence and domestic violence prevention for decades. You can take action. Please use an Executive Order to clarify that dating partners "similarly situated to a spouse" who have been convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic abuse are prohibited from purchasing or possessing guns. Thanks!