SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

Gun Control and Domestic Violence: An Intersectional Examination

Room 222, DiGiorgio Campus Center (DiGs)

Using an intersectional approach, this paper will use domestic and partner violence statistics to argue that gun control would be beneficial across class, race, and gender lines. Looking specifically at South Carolina, we hypothesize that looser gun laws are related to the deaths of women at the hands of men in the state. We also hypothesize that lower socioeconomic citizens as well as women of color are more likely to be killed or injured by gun-related domestic violence. This paper examines the gun laws and rates of usage in domestic violence deaths in the top ten states for domestic violence against women to see if such a pattern emerges. We will then break the data down by class, gender, and race. Finally, we will compare these results to the patterns of the states with the fewest number of deaths due to domestic violence. We hope to prove that by looking at gun control and domestic violence from an intersectional perspective that we can highlight the need for stricter repercussions for domestic violence crimes and stricter gun laws.