October Marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, an Annual Observance to Raise Awareness, Educate the Public, and Elevate Resources to Survivors of Domestic Violence
NEW YORK – Moms Demand Action released the following statement in response to the devastating weekend of gun violence that left multiple families destroyed, including a mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, where a man killed eight family members and friends before taking his own life; an apparent murder-suicide in Coffee County, Georgia, where a shooter claimed the lives of four family members; a shooting in Marin County, California, where a suspect shot his wife and child before taking his own life in a domestic murder-suicide; and a suspected attempted murder-suicide in Los Angeles, California, where a man fatally shot two children before shooting himself.
“These shootings are a devastating reminder that our country’s weak gun laws allow intimate partner violence to turn deadly in seconds,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “These losses are unimaginable, but they are also preventable. We owe it to every survivor, child, and family to recognize the warning signs, take this violence seriously, and do everything in our power to keep guns out of the hands of abusers.”
Every month, an average of more than 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. Nearly 6 million women reported having a gun used on them by an intimate partner. In at least 46 percent of mass shootings between 2015 and 2022, the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family member as part of the rampage. A separate report found firearms make it five times more likely that an abuser will kill their female partner.
Children are particularly affected by intimate partner violence with guns. For children under age 13 who are victims of gun homicide, nearly one-third are connected to intimate partner or family violence. Nearly two-thirds of the domestic violence–related mass shootings with four or more people killed from 2015 to 2022 included at least one child or teen killed. While intimate partner violence involving guns presents a bleak problem, research shows that federal and state policies that disrupt abusers’ access to guns can save lives – these policies include background checks, extreme risk protection orders, and secure storage laws, among others.
What’s more, a 2025 Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund report found that intimate partner homicide-suicide (IPHS) with a gun claims the lives of 19 women on average each month. IPHS is defined as any tragedy where a current or former intimate partner kills their partner, children, or others and then attempts or dies by suicide. These incidents make up nearly one in five of all gun homicides of women, and 99% of perpetrators are men.
According to the report, there are 11 common risk factors associated with IPHS, collectively identified by survivors and family members, including access to a firearm, suicidal behaviors, and previous abuse. Nearly 25 percent of the perpetrators were prohibited by law from possessing a firearm, according to survivors’ reports. Read more here.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233), available 24/7, for confidential assistance from a trained advocate, or text START to 88788 from anywhere in the U.S.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org/chat to chat with a counselor from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free, and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress anywhere in the US.