NRA is 'MAKING A KILLING' off of women's lives. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE and Guns.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/how-nra-making-killing-womens-lives?akid=14057.294211.ibvsBa&rd=1&src=newsletter1052440&t=26

CIVIL LIBERTIES

How the NRA Is 'Making A Killing' Off Women's Lives

A new documentary shines a light on the dangerous intersection of domestic violence and guns.

By Melissa Jeltsen / Huffington Post

March 11, 2016

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Photo Credit: Jan Mika/Shutterstock

It was Oct. 8, 1984, and Americans across the country were glued to their television sets for the premiere of "The Burning Bed." The made-for-TV movie starred Farrah Fawcett, everyone's favorite pinup girl, as a battered wife who kills her husband by burning him alive after suffering years of brutal abuse.

Based on a true story, "The Burning Bed" was an instant hit. Over 30 million households tuned in, making the drama more popular than that year’s World Series final game. Suddenly, domestic violence -- long considered a private matter that should be kept behind closed doors -- was being discussed out in the open.

"I felt the story was important and, at that point, not one we had ever seen before," said Robert Greenwald, who directed the movie. "Groups around the country used the film to mobilize and to take this issue out of the closet."

These days, Greenwald is no longer making Hollywood blockbusters, and is better known for his work as a liberal documentary filmmaker. In the past decade, he’s taken on the political influence of the Koch brothers, Walmart’s treatment of low wage workers, and how the Bush administration misled Americans on the Iraq war. 

Now, thirty years after directing "The Burning Bed," he’s returning to the subject of domestic violence.

In his newest documentary, "Making A Killing: Guns, Greed & The NRA," Greenwald investigates how the lucrative firearms industry and the NRA are putting people's lives in danger by opposing common sense gun reform -- all in the name of turning a profit.

"The NRA is a lobbyist for the gun companies, and there's a significant profit motive at stake," he said. "All of us are in greater physical danger because of this."

The film pivots around five stories of gun violence: mass shootings, unintentional shootings, suicides, the impact of gun trafficking and domestic violence shootings. 

As Greenwald rightly recognizes, it's difficult to properly illustrate the impact of gun violence on Americans without grappling with domestic abuse.

To start, the majority of mass shootings in the U.S., defined as those in which four or more people are killed, are related to domestic violence. 

More often than not, when a woman is fatally shot in this country, the person wielding the firearm is someone she dated or married. Most women who die in gun homicides in the U.S. are killed by intimate partners or other family members. A U.S. woman is fatally shot by a romantic partner or ex every 16 hours, according to a recent analysis.