Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

NRA Seizes On Schneiderman Abuse Allegations To Push For Female Gun Ownership

After multiple reports of physical abuse came out against former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the National Rifle Association used the details to push its agenda, claiming that the solution to violence against women is more gun ownership.

A May 7 New Yorker article reported that four women say Schneiderman repeatedly hit them, often while intoxicated and sometimes as part of violent sexual roleplay to which they did not consent. Just hours after the story broke, Schneiderman announced his resignation.

The next day, the NRA’s media sector, NRATV, cited the abuse to advocate for female gun ownership as a means of defense against sexual assault and domestic violence. On her show Relentless, NRA national spokesperson Dana Loesch claimed that Schneiderman’s views on gun regulation were motivated by his abusive behavior.

Following that, on NRATV’s news show Stinchfield, Loesch said that it was “fitting that Eric Schneiderman is also anti-gun because predators such as men like him, they don’t like for their victims to be armed” and asserted that abusers are usually “far-left individuals who want women to remain victims and are absolutely aghast when women speak about their right to defend themselves.”

In actuality, evidence shows that the presence of a firearm makes domestic violence situations more dangerous.

Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.