8 in 10 back federal law blocking domestic abusers from buying guns: poll

More than 80 percent of Americans support a federal law that blocks domestic abusers from purchasing guns, according to a new poll.

The 19th News/Survey Monkey poll found that 82 percent of Americans back a law that would bar those who are convicted of domestic violence from buying a gun. This includes 91 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans.

The poll also found that women are more likely than men to be worried about gun violence. Women are also more likely to be the victims of domestic abuse. About 1 in 4 women have been the victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner compared to 1 in 7 men, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence also states that the risk of a homicide goes up 500 percent when there is the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation. According to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, about half of all women killed in the United States are killed by a current or former romantic partner. More than half of those intimate partner homicides are by firearm, the organization noted.

Michele Bell, a former nurse at a Houston hospital, said that a large share of the gunshot wounds she saw while working were a result of domestic violence, according to the poll.

“I’ve had a lifetime in one of the biggest health care systems in Texas, and I know that the lion’s share of gunshot wounds we see are related to domestic violence,” Bell said. “It’s really sad to me that someone can still carry a gun after they’ve done something like that to their wife. It blows my mind.”

The poll was conducted online among 20,191 adults between Aug. 24-31 and has a margin of error of one percentage point.