Across the United States, federal and state laws  generally prohibit people convicted of domestic violence  from purchasing firearms. Nevertheless, some domestic abusers will still attempt to access weapons, which threatens the safety of survivors. From 2018-2023, nearly 105,000 firearm purchases were denied because of the purchaser’s history of domestic violence.

Introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6), the Domestic Violence Survivors Alerted for Emergency (SAFE) Notice Act of 2026 (S. 5656/H.R. 10663), would alert domestic violence survivors if their offender illegally obtains or tries to obtain a firearm.

For many survivors, this could be a life-saving bill. A male offender is five times more likely to kill their female partner, or former partner, if they have access to a firearm. If given notice of attempted purchases, survivors would be better prepared to ensure their own physical safety and wellbeing

Jewish text and tradition guide our opposition to gun violence and domestic violence.  Leviticus 19:16 teaches us  not only to condemn violence, but to stand up to it: “do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is shed.” The Mishnah teaches, “one who injures another person is liable on five counts: for the injury itself, for pain, for healing, for loss of time, and for embarrassment” (Bava Kamma 8:1). This teaching shows how acts of violence carry impacts beyond the direct injury of the victim.

For More Information

For more information on this issue, contact Legislative Assistants Meredith Brubaker at mbrubaker@rac.org or Landon Block at lblock@rac.org.

By submitting this form, you are agreeing to receive emails from the RAC and URJ. You can manage your preferences at any time. 

Most elected officials with online contact forms require a prefix to submit a message, so this requirement is part of the VoterVoice platform. For most offices, you may submit any prefix or title up to 30 characters (including gendered, professional, religious, and non-binary prefixes), but a small number of offices only accept certain prefixes. Learn more about this requirement, which is not controlled by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

A small number of Capitol Hill offices impose a strict character limit for incoming constituent emails. If you receive an error notification that your message is too long or cannot be sent, please manually shorten the message. This character limit is not controlled by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism or the VoterVoice platform.