Everytown for Gun Safety Teams up with Attn: and Everytown Creative Council Member Troian Bellisario to Launch Video Asking Lawmakers to Close The Boyfriend Loophole

NEW YORK — Everytown for Gun Safety teamed up with issue-driven media company ATTN: and Pretty Little Liars star and Everytown Creative Council member, Troian Bellisario, to launch ‘The Loophole that is Killing Women,’ a video narrated by Bellisario. In the ATTN: animated video, Bellisario narrates as graphics demonstrate why current gun laws put women – particularly single women – at risk. The video is available here.

“I was shocked when I learned that 50 American women are shot and killed every month by intimate partners like husbands or boyfriends,” said Troian Bellisario, “This violence against women is entirely preventable. I’m proud to speak out to help close the loopholes in our gun laws that put women at risk.”

The video focuses on the Boyfriend Loophole, which allows dangerous domestic abusers to legally purchase firearms in the majority of states. While federal law prevents people who have been convicted of domestic abuse from buying a gun if they’ve been married to, lived with or had children with their victim, there’s nothing to stop an abusive boyfriend or stalker from purchasing a firearm unless a state’s law fills the gap in that federal standard and closes the Boyfriend Loophole.

“This is yet another example of the law having not caught up with the times,” said Jennifer Gold, a member of the Everytown Survivor Network whose best friends, Carol Kestenbaum and Nicole Schiffman, were killed ten years ago on February 18, 2007 by the ex-boyfriend of Carol’s roommate. “Women are delaying marriage longer than ever before – and yet the law still prioritizes the safety of married women over those of us who are single. Millennial women have to speak out for our own safety and encourage our lawmakers to dump the boyfriend loophole.”

As an issues-driven media company, ATTN: creates engaging content that is focused on highlighting important issues in society. This is ATTN:’s second collaboration with Bellisario. Their first partnership was a video focused on mental health and the importance of voting, with Bellisario sharing her personal battle with anorexia.

“ATTN: is proud to support sensible gun legislation that helps keep people safe and works to prevent violence against women,” said Taryn Crouthers, ATTN:’s Head of Brand Partnerships. “ATTN:’s video with Everytown for Gun Safety and Troian Bellisario highlights why the ‘Boyfriend Loophole’ must be closed and will hopefully send a powerful message to our audience and lawmakers who have the power to save lives.”

Bellisario’s video is the latest in a series of notable Everytown Creative Council efforts including marching in the Women’s March on Washington along with hundreds of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America volunteers, a sketch on the show Billy on the Street from Creative Council member Billy Eichner, and Julianne Moore’s visit to Nevada to thank local volunteers for their work in helping to get background checks successfully passed via state ballot initiative in the November 2016 election.

For more information on the Everytown Creative Council, check out the link here.