Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says Washington needs to help states tighten the rules against domestic abusers owning guns.
Relying on statistics on domestic violence murders, the Albany-area Democrat wants to tighten the rules on purchasing a weapon if there is a history of domestic violence and giving states more power to take weapons away from domestic abusers in the cases of restraining orders or criminal charges.
An average of 760 Americans were killed with guns annually by intimate partners in recent years.
"We know that domestic abuse is a violent crime. And, in too many cases can even lead to murder," Gillibrand said.
"When a gun is involved, the problem is even worse. When a gun is in the home, domestic violence is actually five times more likely to lead to murder."
The grey areas in weapons and domestic violence cases are in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a case which was argued on Monday. At the heart of the cases is when a weapon can be taken away from an alleged domestic violence abuser.
