Law enforcement officials investigate the scene of a shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, earlier this week in which 26 people were killed. Eric Gay/AP hide caption
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Eric Gay/AP
Eric Gay/AP
In the wake of the massacre at a small-town Texas church on Sunday, many people are asking why.
A large portion of the mass shootings in the U.S. in recent years have roots in domestic violence against partners and family members. Depending on how you count, it could be upwards of 50 percent.
The Two-Way
The Texas Church Shooter Should Have Been Legally Barred From Owning Guns
We know the Texas gunman, Devin Patrick Kelley, was court-martialed for assaulting his wife and their young child in 2012, although this information apparently was not included in the formal government database that tracks such things.
There are laws on the books preventing convicted domestic violence offenders from obtaining weapons. So why does this keep happening?
There are no easy answers. NPR’s Alison Kodjak recently talked with Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore, Md., about the complexities of gun violence, mass shootings, and the difficulty we have in understanding the people who commit these crimes.
U.S.
The Relationship Between Domestic Violence And Mass Shootings
The Relationship Between Domestic Violence And Mass Shootings
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