Welcome back to the show.
If I've learned anything since moving to America,
it's that fried chicken is bread, and gun violence happens every day.
In the month since the Las Vegas shooting, over 900 more Americans have lost their lives
to guns.
We haven't heard about most of those because cable news is only on 24 hours a day,
so we only take notice on the most shootiest days in the shootiest places.
Mass shootings are scary and impossible to predict.
Except for this one big thing that's a really good predictor.
Everytown for Gun Safety performed an exhaustive study of mass shootings from 2009-2016.
There were 156 mass shootings.
54% of those incidents were related to domestic or family violence.
Mass shooters come in all male shapes and all male sizes, but most of them rehearse
for it the same way.
James Hodgkinson was at the center of a big domestic disturbance.
He punched a woman in the face, dragged his daughter to the ground by her hair.
This is Omar Mateen's ex-wife, who told abc news he regularly beat her.
At least two of Robert Lewis Dear's ex-wives accused him of physical abuse,
and, in 1992, he was arrested and accused of sexual violence and rape.
Yep, you got it, the common thread is domestic violence!
Judges will also accept "crappy facial hair."
There were 10 times as many women killed by a current husband or boyfriend or ex-husband
as by a male stranger.
The majority of this violence is perpetrated with firearms.
Women are five times as likely— more likely— to die from domestic violence when there are
guns in their household.
An abusive husband and a gun is a deadly combination.
It's like matches and gasoline.
Or men and gasoline.
Or men and everything else.
So tell us more about this crazy theory that violent men don't have much regard for lady-folks.
The majority of mass shooters in America also behaved in abusive ways with respect to their
spouses or intimate partners or other close family members.
They do tend to have these notions of a woman's traditional place.
They tend to be rankled by women who speak out, by women who argue with them.
These are people who want to exercise control over women.
This study brought to you by the Institute for Men Confirming Things That Women Have
Known Since the Beginning of Fucking Time.
And by viewers like you!
It turns out there is legislation that would help prevent mass shootings and domestic violence,
and it's only a little gun-controlly.
States that require background checks see 46% fewer women shot by their partners.
But there's still a loophole in the system that allows guns to get in the hands of domestic
abusers.
It's called the "boyfriend loophole."
Domestic abusers are prohibited from buying or owning a firearm if they've ever been married
to the victim, lived together, or had a child.
But a dangerous ex-boyfriend or a dating partner?
There's nothing stopping them.
Yes, it's the boyfriend loophole.
Not to be confused with the Sweet Valley High book of the same name.
The boyfriend loophole goes back 20 years, when Congress made a halfhearted effort to
keep guns out of domestic abusers' hands.
But there was concern that innocent men's gun rights could be impeded
because bitches be lyin'.
So Congress defined domestic violence in a way that focuses on spouses, cohabitating
couples, and couples with kids.
But they excluded boyfriends who are just keeping it casual.
Just what we needed, ladies.
Another excuse for men not to commit!
That joke was brought to you by "the Cathy collection," now available on Kindle.
It's ack-cellent!
By weaseling out with their "it's complicated" relationship status, Congress left a quarter
of all domestic violence victims vulnerable,
and led to the worst de beers jewelers ad campaign ever.
The law also prohibited only the purchase of guns, allowing abusers to keep whatever
weapons they already owned;
it did nothing to stop them from skipping a background check by going through a private
seller;
and it didn't prevent them from buying guns if they had a temporary protective order filed
against them.
But other than that, the law worked out great, right?
Laurie Duker heads Court Watch Montgomery.
For the last year, she and 10 volunteers tracked more than 100 domestic violence cases in Montgomery
County.
Together, they found judges overwhelmingly failed to tell convicted abusers that they
could no longer own a gun.
The judges' failure rate?
99%.
99% failure rate?
How can anything have a 99% failure rate?
Even burlap condoms only have a 98% failure rate!
So what gives judges?
No reasonable person wants abusers to have guns.
There are even real Americans — y'know, white conservative men — who want to close
the boyfriend loophole.
I'm the sheriff in Racine County, Wisconsin.
I am a conservative republican.
Any cop will tell you that domestic violence calls are the most dangerous calls that law
enforcement officers will respond to.
The last thing that the victim needs and the last thing that my deputies need is a dangerous
abuser armed with illegal weapons.
Ooh, move over, Carl Winslow,
mama's got a new favorite sex-fantasy cop.
Believe it or not, this is one area where advocates for sensible gun control are winning!
This year alone, 8 states have passed or strengthened laws to varying degrees to keep guns away
from domestic abusers.
And in most of those states, the legislation was signed by a republican governor!
Since 2013, similar bills have been signed by Republicans including Scott Walker, Nikki
Haley,
and that creepy old Alabama governor who resigned after he got caught boning his adviser!
Thank you, Governor Droopy Balls!
A grateful nation salutes you!
These are a few small rays of light in a story so dark,
Jeff Sessions won't let it vote.
But there's a lot of work left to be done: existing laws aren't enforced enough, victims
are too often met with skepticism,
and there are still 37 states that haven't closed the boyfriend loophole.
Even if you don't give a shit about domestic violence, abused women are the canary in the
coal mine for mass shootings.
If you take guns from abusers, you might even be able to save more important, non- female
lives.
And the law shouldn't care if the person holding a gun is married, because the gun definitely
doesn't.
We'll be right back.