Domestic violence and mass shootings are far more closely linked than you might at first think.

The Washington Post reports that before committing the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, the Orlando shooter was an abusive husband who beat his wife repeatedly while they were married. The May 6 gun murder of two people (injuring two others) at a shopping mall in Bethesda, MD involved a domestic abuser who shot his wife the night before.

In a recent study by Everytown of every mass shooting in the United States between 2009 and 2013, the shooter killed an intimate partner or other family member in 57% of the cases, in addition to the many other victims. See excellent New York times piece on this.

Court Watch continues to seek systemic solutions to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. As we are learning, it is a matter not just of protecting victims but also protecting the public.