A year ago today, Congress passed a law which has the potential to save thousands of women's lives. The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban prevents anyone -- anyone -- convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from obtaining a gun permit. The National Organization for Women took an active role in advocating for this law because abusers with guns are a fatal danger to the women they claim to love. And we stand here today committed to seeing to the law's full implementation.

Studies, anecdotal evidence and the nightly news tell us that if a man abuses his wife or girlfriend once, he's likely to hurt her again. In too many cases, the cycle doesn't end until the woman is dead -- at her partner's hand. Sixty-two percent of cases of murder by an intimate involve a gun. (FBI Supplemental Homicide Report, 1992). In fact, incidents of domestic violence involving guns are 12 times more likely to result in death than domestic assaults involving knives, physical force or other means (Journal of the American Medical Association, 1992).

The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban literally takes the murder weapon out of a murderer's hand.

Soon-to-be-released studies by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Crime Statistics suggest that the ban has been effective. These statistics will provide further evidence that stronger laws against domestic violence will help to reduce this epidemic of violence against women. The National Organization for Women will continue to work with our allies in congress and other grass roots organizations to strengthen laws and educate the public until every women is safe inside her home and out.