Whenever a mass shooting happens in the United States — a phrase that is infuriating in its familiarity — there’s a pervasive sense of helpless fury. What can be done to prevent such atrocities, when even talking about gun control kicks up so much political dust?
Watch: Samantha Bee on why “abused women are the canary in the coal mine for mass shootings”
Bee explains how “the boyfriend loophole” keeps domestic abusers armed and dangerous.
Caroline Framke wrote about culture, which usually means television. Also seen @ The A.V. Club, The Atlantic, Complex, Flavorwire, NPR, the fridge to get more seltzer.
For starters, as Samantha Bee explained on the November 1, 2017, episode of Full Frontal, we could take a closer look at the frequent link between gun violence deaths and domestic abuse.
“Mass shootings are scary and impossible to predict,” Bee said, “except for this one big thing that’s a really big predictor.”
A month after a shooting in Las Vegas left more than 50 people dead and less than a week before a shooter in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killed at least 26 people, Bee devoted a segment of her show to the 20-year-old “boyfriend loophole,” which allows those charged with domestic abuse to still buy a gun as long as they weren’t married to the person they abused. The Sutherland Springs shooter was court-martialed during his time in the Air Force for assaulting his wife and child before he committed his final, fatal crime.
“Mass shooters come in all male shapes and all male sizes,” Bee said, “but most of them rehearse for it the same way.”
Even as Bee derided the concept of a “boyfriend loophole” in general, she also made sure to point out that the “restrictions” on the domestic abusers who don’t qualify for the loophole aren’t exactly airtight, either. Even if they’re barred from buying new guns, charged domestic abusers can still keep the guns they already had. Bee also pointed to a local report in Montgomery County, Maryland, that found judges didn’t inform those charged with domestic abuse that they could no longer buy guns a full 99 percent of the time.
“Ninety-nine percent?!” Bee gasped. “How can anything have a 99 percent failure rate? Even burlap condoms only have a 98 percent failure rate!”
Then, as she tied the loophole back to mass shootings, Bee showed a montage of news reports on 2015’s San Bernardino shooting, 2016’s Orlando shooting, and this June’s GOP baseball game shooting, which all identified the perpetrators as men who had been previously accused of or even charged with domestic violence.
“Even if you don’t give a shit about domestic violence,” Bee concluded, “abused women are the canary in the coal mine for mass shootings.”
Corrected to reflect that Bee used a report based in Montgomery County, Maryland, not Alabama.
By Dylan Matthews
By Alexia Fernández Campbell
