Preventing Gun Violence by Investigating Attempted Gun Purchases by Domestic Abusers

Introduction

Under federal and state law, certain individuals are prohibited from buying and possessing firearms because of their history of certain criminal convictions, restraining orders, or other disqualifying factors. One important category of individuals who are prohibited from gun possession under federal law are those who have committed domestic violence and have either been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or are subject to a domestic violence restraining order. Many states have passed analogous laws, empowering state and local officials to enforce firearm prohibitions against these individuals. Currently, 32 states and Washington, DC have laws prohibiting domestic abusers under restraining orders from possessing firearms. A separate set of 32 states and Washington, DC have laws barring firearm possession by individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes.

These laws restricting domestic abusers from being able to buy and possess guns were enacted in recognition of the significant harm caused when abusers have access to firearms. Every month, an average of 76 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner.¹Everytown Research analysis of CDC, National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), 2021. Analysis includes firearm homicides involving an intimate partner and women 18 years and older. Nearly 1 million women alive today have had a gun used against them by intimate partners, and over 4.5 million women have reported being threatened with a gun by an intimate partner.²Everytown analysis of the National Violence Against Women Survey (Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, “Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey,” November 2000, https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/183781.pdf) and US Census 2020. Domestic and intimate partner violence is also often a precursor to incidents of mass violence: in at least 46 percent of mass shootings between 2015 and 2022 where four or more people were killed, the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family member as part of the rampage. The impact of guns in the hands of a domestic abuser extends far beyond the intimate relationship, affecting entire communities from children who witness it to family members, coworkers, and the law enforcement officers who respond.

How the Background Check System Prevents Abusers from Buying Guns

In order to ensure that prohibited individuals are not able to buy guns, federal law requires licensed gun dealers to conduct a background check for all gun sales. In addition, while federal law does not require background checks for sales from unlicensed sellers, 22 states and Washington, DC have enacted laws that require background checks for all handgun sales, regardless of whether the seller is a licensed dealer. The background check system is both efficient and effective, facilitating millions of legal sales every year while also preventing sales to individuals prohibited from buying guns because of a disqualifying conviction, restraining order, or other factor. In 31 states, the FBI conducts the background check for all gun sales where a check is required. In the remaining states, referred to as “Point of Contact” states or “Partial Point of Contact” states, a state law enforcement agency conducts the background check for at least some categories of gun sales. 

The background check system prevents thousands of sales every year to domestic abusers who are legally prohibited from buying guns because of a disqualifying domestic violence conviction or restraining order. Everytown obtained data from the FBI that showed from 2018 through 2022, there were 90,009 denied background checks due to a conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and an additional 45,234 denied background checks due to a disqualifying domestic violence restraining order.³Data obtained by Everytown from the FBI. 

Background Check Denials Due to a Domestic Violence Prohibitor⁴Data obtained by Everytown from the FBI.

Reason for Denial	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Totals (2018-2022)
Domestic Violence Prohibitor (All)	19,779	21,384	36,415	31,626	26,039	135,243
Protection/ Restraining Order for Domestic Violence	6,363	7,161	11,825	10,609	9,276	45,234
Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence Conviction	13,416	14,223	24,590	21,017	16,763	90,009

We also obtained data listing the number of denied sales to domestic abusers by state, which helps define the scope of this problem in a more localized way. It should be noted that this data is imperfect and likely an undercount, as Point of Contact and Partial Point of Contact states that conduct their own background checks vary in the extent to which they provide this information to the FBI. This data should therefore not be used to compare states, but rather only to understand the potential frequency with which prohibited abusers are attempting to evade the law and purchase guns in each state.

Background Check Denials Due to a Current Domestic Violence Restraining Order⁵Data obtained by Everytown from the FBI. Data for Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey was unreliable and is not included. Data for California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin may be an undercount as these are Point of Contact or Partial Point of Contact states in which state agencies conduct background checks for at least some categories of gun sales, rather than relying on the FBI to do so, and vary in the extent to which they provide data on denials to the FBI.

State	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Total
Alabama	100	126	151	129	161	667
Alaska	76	69	111	75	69	400
Arizona	124	124	196	163	136	743
Arkansas	119	124	185	160	141	729
California*	429	414	622	545	517	2527
Colorado*	311	270	597	453	384	2015
Connecticut*	–	–	–	–	–	–
Delaware	17	12	27	28	28	112
DC	–	–	–	5	9	14
Florida*	1132	1246	2352	1880	1583	8193
Georgia	144	163	230	188	229	954
Hawaii*	–	–	–	–	–	–
Idaho	75	88	103	87	105	458
Illinois*	–	–	–	–	–	–
Indiana	140	165	266	227	207	1005
Iowa	109	134	199	224	229	895
Kansas	56	73	68	69	67	333
Kentucky	164	161	231	204	153	913
Louisiana	172	151	231	216	218	988
Maine	31	26	48	42	40	187
Maryland*	29	25	59	61	50	224
Massachusetts	–	5	3	2	1	11
Michigan	105	122	164	197	133	721
Minnesota	472	492	1053	970	809	3796
Mississippi	46	61	44	47	64	262
Missouri	237	207	299	245	252	1240
Montana	80	51	78	74	76	359
Nebraska*	9	14	21	17	20	81
Nevada*	31	50	80	58	51	270
New Hampshire*	27	33	34	33	39	166
New Jersey*	–	–	–	–	–	–
New Mexico	104	94	128	125	82	533
New York*	187	175	340	253	184	1139
North Carolina	138	131	175	171	127	742
North Dakota	9	10	7	13	10	49
Ohio	225	226	417	399	317	1584
Oklahoma	86	97	118	116	103	520
Oregon*	64	53	54	51	65	287
Pennsylvania*	578	629	973	1055	910	4145
Rhode Island	14	11	22	22	13	82
South Carolina	97	99	114	119	104	533
South Dakota	9	10	22	20	24	85
Tennessee*	229	220	437	490	338	1714
Texas	157	186	302	240	207	1092
Utah*	–	152	233	176	163	724
Vermont	22	17	8	17	15	79
Virginia*	–	312	609	508	446	1875
Washington*	140	251	322	350	314	1377
West Virginia	30	30	31	33	28	152
Wisconsin*	18	27	32	20	23	120
Wyoming	17	15	19	20	27	98

Background Check Denials Due to Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence Conviction⁶Data obtained by Everytown from the FBI. Data for Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey was unreliable and is not included. Data for California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin may be an undercount as these are Point of Contact or Partial Point of Contact states in which state agencies conduct background checks, rather than relying on the FBI to do so, and vary in the extent to which they provide data on denials to the FBI.

State	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Total
Alabama	109	123	188	171	135	726
Alaska	185	193	226	179	138	921
Arizona	507	512	920	692	584	3215
Arkansas	241	189	294	222	164	1110
California*	871	849	2017	1404	1089	6230
Colorado*	487	508	842	754	612	3203
Connecticut*	–	–	–	–	–	–
Delaware	52	62	169	102	82	467
DC	1	–	9	7	0	17
Florida*	1133	1055	1850	1506	1255	6799
Georgia	445	490	838	705	998	3476
Hawaii*	–	1	–	–	–	1
Idaho	216	205	336	268	198	1223
Illinois*	–	–	–	–	–	–
Indiana	294	283	490	401	464	1932
Iowa	137	116	211	188	156	808
Kansas	313	335	598	482	369	2097
Kentucky	637	709	1136	873	642	3997
Louisiana	623	607	1075	940	743	3988
Maine	79	59	98	69	82	387
Maryland*	15	18	24	21	35	113
Massachusetts	2	3	–	1	0	6
Michigan	240	213	325	240	251	1269
Minnesota	177	173	382	363	245	1340
Mississippi	98	65	136	124	80	503
Missouri	162	152	258	213	186	971
Montana	87	72	106	88	58	411
Nebraska*	81	68	130	114	109	502
Nevada*	306	362	528	397	308	1901
New Hampshire*	124	122	308	192	137	883
New Jersey*	–	–	–	–	–	–
New Mexico	350	338	513	422	243	1866
New York*	52	53	115	111	69	400
North Carolina	294	291	380	324	251	1540
North Dakota	89	76	109	81	34	389
Ohio	550	531	917	630	459	3087
Oklahoma	221	211	362	309	257	1360
Oregon*	197	206	140	162	124	829
Pennsylvania*	420	371	674	490	491	2446
Rhode Island	1	2	5	4	2	14
South Carolina	188	229	386	315	264	1382
South Dakota	36	39	80	68	73	296
Tennessee*	1664	1666	2922	3364	2110	11726
Texas	1201	1193	1835	1990	1632	7851
Utah*	–	56	102	62	77	297
Vermont	6	3	24	22	15	70
Virginia*	–	508	1120	885	621	3134
Washington*	79	246	427	364	340	1456
West Virginia	146	139	194	139	113	731
Wisconsin*	162	391	617	439	366	1975
Wyoming	114	122	161	110	98	605

Denied Sales to Prohibited Abusers Are a Potential Warning Sign of Future Violence

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the period surrounding when a survivor takes steps to separate from an abuser is often “the most dangerous period of time for survivors of abuse.” Many of these survivors seek assistance from the legal system as part of their attempt to separate from an abuser, which can result in a firearm-disqualifying criminal conviction or restraining order. Unfortunately, many abusers go on to commit acts of lethal violence even after courts issue a restraining order or an abuser is convicted of a crime. For example, a 2018 analysis by The Washington Post of domestic violence homicides by men in five cities found that 36% of the men had a previous restraining order issued against them or had been convicted of domestic abuse or a violent crime. It is therefore crucial that when a survivor seeks assistance from the legal system, all appropriate steps are taken to ensure that laws intended to prevent abusers from purchasing firearms are effectively implemented and that law enforcement is vigilant to any warning signs of a potential escalation of violence in these situations, such as an attempted gun purchase by the abuser.

Following up on these attempted unlawful purchases is also crucial to ensure that the prohibited individual is unable to acquire a firearm through other means. Significant gaps in current federal and state background check laws make it easy for prohibited individuals to obtain firearms, such as purchasing a firearm from an unlicensed seller (including at a gun show or online) or obtaining the components to make an unserialized “ghost gun” at home. That a prohibited abuser has demonstrated the intent to purchase a firearm through the denied sale signals a risk that they may attempt to use another channel to obtain one that does not require a background check. 

Not only is an attempted firearm purchase a warning sign of potential violence, but it may also be a new crime. Individuals seeking to purchase a gun from a gun dealer must fill out a federally mandated form that, among other things, requires the individual to affirm that they do not have a disqualifying conviction or restraining order. Making a false statement on this form is a federal crime, as well as a crime in many states.

Because of the potential risks of future gun violence when a prohibited individual attempts to evade the law and buy a gun, Congress enacted the NICS Denial Notification Act of 2022, which requires the FBI to send a notification to state and local law enforcement within 24 hours for every denied background check.⁷This provision was included in the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization legislation, which was included in the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations bill. These notifications include the name and address of the purchaser and the reason that they are prohibited from gun possession. Thirteen states require similar notifications by state law or policy, ensuring that local law enforcement is being made aware of these illegal gun purchase attempts. Requiring the FBI (and the state agencies that conduct background checks in Point of Contact states) to notify local law enforcement when prohibited abusers attempt to buy a gun in violation of the law and fail a background check is a significant step—but it is only a first step. For these notifications to have a meaningful impact on preventing future gun violence by domestic abusers, law enforcement must follow up in every case to look for other signs of a potential escalation of violence and check on the safety of the survivor.

Despite the acute risk of potential harm and the possible commission of a new crime during these attempted purchases by prohibited abusers, very few of these cases receive further investigation by law enforcement. At the federal level, the FBI refers all background check denials to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Denial Enforcement and NICS Intelligence (DENI) Branch for review to determine whether the case merits referral to the local ATF Field Division for further investigation. In 2020, the most recent year that this data is available, the DENI Branch referred 3,486 background check denials because of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and 2,153 denials due to a domestic violence restraining order to the ATF Field Divisions for further investigation—19% and 12% of all referred denials respectively. There is no data available on what happened to these referrals and whether any of these cases resulted in a federal criminal prosecution or any other type of follow-up with these individuals. However, data from 2018 and 2019 obtained by The Washington Post reveals that federal prosecutors pursued criminal charges against individuals who provided false information on background check forms in less than 300 cases per year across all denial categories.

A small number of states have implemented comprehensive policies to investigate background check denials, some of which include a focus on individuals prohibited because of a disqualifying domestic violence conviction or restraining order. The Virginia State Police (VSP) has had a program in place for decades to investigate attempted gun purchases by prohibited individuals. Certain types of denials automatically receive an investigation by VSP, including those due to a disqualifying misdemeanor domestic violence conviction or restraining order.⁸GAO, “Few Individuals Denied Firearms Purchases Are Prosecuted and ATF Should Assess Use of Warning Notices in Lieu of Prosecutions,” Appendix V, September 2018, https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-18-440.pdf. In many cases, VSP responds to the gun dealer immediately, interviewing the purchaser in real time and determining whether to make an arrest for false statements on the paperwork.

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) implemented a policy of investigating all background check denials in 2014. These investigations are conducted either by PSP directly or by local law enforcement and cases involving individuals prohibited because of a restraining order “may be investigated more vigorously when there is an indication of violence.”⁹ GAO, “Few Individuals Denied Firearms Purchases Are Prosecuted and ATF Should Assess Use of Warning Notices in Lieu of Prosecutions,” Appendix IV. According to data from PSP, in 2022 there were 7,037 total investigations of attempted purchases by prohibited individuals, 70% of which were referred to municipal police departments, while 24% were handled by PSP and 6% referred to ATF. As a result of these investigations, 579 people were arrested and 226 were convicted. The Oregon State Police similarly instituted a policy of investigating all background check denials in 2014, working with local law enforcement in each case to determine which agency should conduct the investigation. The most common cases to result in criminal prosecution and conviction concerned individuals prohibited because of a disqualifying domestic violence conviction.¹⁰GAO, “Few Individuals Denied Firearms Purchases Are Prosecuted and ATF Should Assess Use of Warning Notices in Lieu of Prosecutions,” Appendix III. Unfortunately, OSP disbanded the unit responsible for these investigations in 2020 due to staffing shortages.

More recently, in 2024 Colorado enacted a new law giving the Colorado Bureau of Investigation the authority to investigate attempts to purchase firearms by prohibited individuals and appropriating $1.47 million to support these investigations. In addition, the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board recommended in its 2024 annual report that the state create a system through which victims of domestic violence can opt to receive notifications when an individual prohibited because of a domestic violence protection order attempts to purchase a firearm.

Washington State has taken a different approach to these cases and created a grant program to provide funds to local law enforcement agencies “to conduct criminal investigations regarding persons who illegally attempted to purchase or transfer a firearm within their jurisdiction.” In FY 2023, $140,600 in grant funds was awarded to law enforcement agencies, which supported investigations in 426 cases involving denied background checks. Washington also implemented a statewide automated system that allows individuals who are protected by restraining orders to sign up for automatic alerts when the individual subject to the restraining order attempts to purchase a gun and fails a background check. The option to receive this notification is included in the state’s VINE Protective Order program, which also allows individuals protected by a restraining order to sign up to receive alerts related to the service and expiration of these orders.

Recommendation: Investigate All Denied Background Checks by Prohibited Abusers

Law enforcement in every jurisdiction should follow the lead of states like Virginia and Pennsylvania and establish a policy of investigating every case where an individual prohibited from buying guns because of a disqualifying domestic violence conviction or restraining order attempts to purchase a gun in violation of the law and fails a background check. 

Investigations of failed background checks by prohibited abusers should include:

• Reviewing law enforcement records to look for other risk factors of imminent violence, such as recent domestic violence calls for service involving the individual; 
• Investigating whether the individual is unlawfully in possession of any firearms or has attempted to acquire firearms through other means, including at a gun show or online;
• Following up with the individual in person to remind them that they are prohibited from buying or possessing guns;
• Working with victims’ services staff and/or local domestic violence service providers when appropriate to notify the survivor that the abuser has attempted to purchase a gun and offer assistance with safety planning;
• Referring appropriate cases to prosecutors for further investigation into whether criminal charges should be pursued.

These investigations should have the primary goal of preventing future violence, rather than only looking for cases where the evidence would support a prosecution for the new crime of providing false information in relation to the attempted gun purchase. This type of policy should include guidance on coordinating with other law enforcement agencies to triage cases and determine whether federal, state, or local law enforcement should take the lead. This policy should also be developed in coordination with domestic violence service providers to ensure that any investigation does not jeopardize the safety of survivors of abuse. 

In addition, these cases should also receive increased attention from federal law enforcement. When cases involving a background check denial due to a disqualifying domestic violence-related conviction or restraining order are referred to an ATF Field Division for further review, agents should not only conduct a narrow investigation of whether criminal charges could be brought against the individual for the unlawful attempted sale but should also coordinate with local law enforcement to ensure that the type of investigation described above is being pursued. In September 2024, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and ATF would be partnering with state and local law enforcement in 78 communities across 47 states, territories, and Washington DC to “develop a plan to reduce intimate partner firearm violence and to prioritize prosecutions of domestic violence offenders prohibited under 18 U.S. Code Section 922(g) from owning firearms.” These plans should include a robust policy of investigating each of these denied sales to ensure that law enforcement is not only responding to horrific acts of gun violence by domestic abusers, but also taking every proactive step to prevent such tragedies from occurring.

Conclusion

Every denied background check for a prohibited abuser provides an opportunity for a proactive investigation to help prevent a domestic violence homicide. Law enforcement now has nearly real-time access to information about these attempted purchases and therefore has a unique opportunity to intervene when there is a warning sign of a potential domestic violence homicide, rather than waiting for a tragedy to occur. Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies should act with urgency in each of these cases as part of a proactive approach to preventing gun violence.

National Domestic Violence Hotline

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), texting “START” to 88788, or chatting online at thehotline.org. Trained advocates are available 24/7 to provide free confidential support to people anywhere in the US.

You can also find more resources on legal assistance in English and Spanish at WomensLaw.org.