Vermont’s Attorney General Charity Clark released findings from the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission’s report. According to the Medical Examiner’s Office, in 2021 there were five homicides in Vermont related to domestic violence. The report also notes that nearly half of all homicides in Vermont between 1994 and 2021 were domestic violence related. Furthermore, over half of domestic violence homicides in Vermont since 1994 have involved a firearm. The Attorney General’s office and the Vermont State Police also announced yesterday that gun owners who need to remove firearms from their homes can take advantage of the statewide secure storage sites.
Gun-related intimate partner violence is a devastating and lethal crisis facing women and families in the United States. In the U.S. an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month, and in Vermont roughly 70% of female intimate partner homicide victims are killed by guns.
In addition, intimate partner violence are often linked to mass shootings. An Everytown analysis of mass shooting incidents—in which four or more people are shot and killed, not including the shooter—in the United States revealed that in at least 53 percent of these shootings, the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family member.
“We are grateful to Attorney General Clark for releasing this important report on domestic violence — no one should have to fear for their life in their home,” said Jackie Wheel , a volunteer with the Vermont Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We also applaud the Attorney General and the Vermont State Police for their leadership in renewing their safe storage sites program to give gun owners options to make sure their guns are securely stored — we know this is an important public safety measure to prevent senseless tragedies and remove access to guns for people in crisis who should not have them.”
Over the past few years there were several close calls where students and parents have threatened gun violence against our schools. Nationally, the 2021–2022 school year had the highest number of incidents of gunfire on school grounds in preschools and K–12 schools since Everytown began tracking school gun violence in 2013. Keeping our kids and educators safe in school means stopping gun violence before it happens in the first place. Research shows that households that locked both firearms and ammunition were associated with 78 percent lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and 85 percent lower risk of unintentional firearm injuries among children, compared to those that locked neither.
More information on gun violence in Vermont can be found here. If you have any questions, or would like to request an interview with a volunteer from Vermont Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
