The U.S. just suffered another devastating weekend of gun violence, including a mass shooting in Erie, Penn., where a man killed eight family members and friends before taking his own life; an apparent murder-suicide in Coffee County, Ga., where a shooter claimed the lives of four family members; a shooting in Marin County, Calif., 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, where a man fatally shot two children before shooting himself.
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 2024. 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 access to a firearm makes 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 huge problem, research shows that federal and state policies that disrupt abusers’ access to guns can save lives – these policies include permit-to-purchase laws, background checks, extreme risk protection orders, and secure storage laws, among others.
Colorado Ceasefire and other gun violence prevention groups feel that In the wake of violence, no one should have to navigate grief and recovery alone. The Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation (COEF) created an 8-page booklet to help survivors figure out what’s next, especially for affected children.