Abstract
Intimate partner homicides (IPHs) often occur in the context of violent relationships, and firearms often facilitate lethal outcomes. Accordingly, policies have been implemented to reduce firearm access among individuals with histories of intimate partner violence (IPV) or violent propensities. There is considerable variation, however, in the enactment and implementation of such state-level firearm protection laws. Some states fail to extend IPV-related firearm related protections to dating partners, creating what has been referred to elsewhere as the “boyfriend loophole”, or what will be referred to here as the “partner loophole”. The goal of this analysis was to examine trends in National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) data to assess the relationship of IPHs among unmarried victims in association with state partner loopholes. State policies were abstracted to identify partner loopholes. A series of negative binomial generalized estimating equations were performed using lagged policy variables, year fixed-effects, robust standard errors, and errors clustered by state. Model findings suggest that increased firearm access is related to higher rates of unmarried IPH victimization, however, the associations between the presence of a partner loophole and IPH rates amongst unmarried victims varied between racial subgroups. Significant, protective relationships with closed partner loopholes were identified for the IPH rates amongst white unmarried victims, however, not amongst victims of color. The partner loophole policies considered here, and other individual IPV-related and/or firearm-related policies may be an important component of protections, however, our findings suggest they are not independently sufficient to equitably reduce the burden of IPH. Continuing to develop public health and policy evaluation literature will be essential to progressing towards a policy landscape and cultural environment that are equitably protective.
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Data Availability
The outcomes explored in this work were derived from the restricted National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) data. Information regarding who is eligible to apply for this data and instructions for how to apply for this data are available here: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nvdrs/dataaccess.html. All covariate data are publicly available.
Notes
Significant limiting provisions include policies that state firearm removal is authorized but not required, that are only applicable to dating partners that cohabitate, that are only applicable within a specified period of time relative to one’s relationship or to a perpetrator’s probation period, that are not applicable to same-sex relationships, and policies that are only applicable to criminal protective orders.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded through the Center for Disease Prevention and Control’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (CDC/NCIPC)-funded University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center (Grant R49CE003095). Contributors to this report included participating state Violent Death Reporting Systems; participating state agencies, including state health departments, vital registrars’ offices, coroners’/medical examiners’ offices, crime laboratories, and local and state law enforcement agencies. NVDRS acknowledges its partner organizations: the Safe States Alliance, American Public Health Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Association of Medical Examiners, National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, National Violence Prevention Network, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; other stakeholders, researchers, and foundations, including Harvard University Injury Control Research Center and the Joyce Foundation; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and National Center for Health Statistics, CDC.
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Disclaimer: This research uses data from NVDRS, a surveillance system designed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The findings are based, in part, on the contributions of the funded states and territories that collected violent death data and the contributions of the states' partners, including personnel from law enforcement, vital records, medical examiners/coroners, and crime laboratories. The analyses, results, and conclusions presented here represent those of the authors and not necessarily reflect those of CDC. Persons interested in obtaining data files from NVDRS should contact CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 4770 Buford Hwy, NE, MS F-64, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, (800) CDC-INFO (232-4636).
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Rochford, H.I., Berg, M. & Peek-Asa, C. The “Boyfriend Loophole” and Intimate Partner Homicides: A Longitudinal Analysis Using the National Violent Death Reporting System. J of Prevention 43, 739–757 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-022-00699-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-022-00699-8