According to a recent Gallup poll, personal safety and protection is the top reason Americans own guns today. Of 309 gun owners polled by phone at the beginning of October for the organization’s annual crime survey, 60 percent cited that as the main reason for having a firearm; 36 percent said they owned guns for hunting; and 13 percent cited recreation and sport. Despite its frequent use as an argument against gun control, only 5 percent cited “Second Amendment rights.”

But for Christy Salters Martin, a professional boxer, having a gun didn’t prevent her husband from shooting her. Christy and her estranged husband both owned guns and had concealed carry permits, and when she attempted to leave him in 2010, he shot her with her own gun. Last year, James Martin was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

“Having a gun isn’t enough,” Christy told ThinkProgress. “Women who fear for their life don’t need a gun—they need to go to their local police department, they need to go a family member, they need to go to the domestic violence shelter. Just putting a weapon in the woman’s hand is not going to reduce the number of fatalities or gunshot victims that we have. Too many times, their male counterpart or spouse will be able to overpower them and take that gun away.”

Thanks to current loopholes in federal law, some domestic abusers are still able to obtain guns. Martin and some of her fellow domestic abuse survivors are holding a press conference on Capitol Hill today to urge Congress to pass stronger background check measures.

Here is today’s report.

—Jennifer Mascia

Five people were killed in a shooting spree that spanned four locations in Terrell, Tex., Monday night. Charles Everett Brownlow Jr., 36, was captured early Tuesday. The victims include his mother, 61-year-old Mary Brownlow; his aunt, 55-year-old Belinda Walker; and 33-year-old Jason Wooden and 30-year-old Kelleye Sluder, whom the victim apparently knew.

—CNN.com

Six people, including two children, were found shot to death in a home in Greenwood County, S.C., Tuesday night. The victims range in age from 9 years old to early 50s. Officers got a 911 call at around 6 p.m. from a man who said he was feeling “edgy” and was going to harm himself. He was also found dead. Authorities believe it’s a “domestic-related incident.”

—NBC News

3-year-old Sheine Steine died of an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Frederick, Colo., Monday morning. His mother reported that he had been injured in a fall. The toddler reportedly found a semiautomatic handgun in his parents’ bedroom. The shooting was ruled accidental and no one has been charged.

—The Denver Post

A police officer was wounded in a shooting in northwest Miami-Dade, Fla., Tuesday night. The officer had a confrontation with the suspect when he was shot.

—WSVN.com

Troy Pichon, 34, a police officer, was shot in the leg and wounded while patrolling the Central City area of New Orleans, La., Monday night. Michael Dabney, 35, was booked on two counts of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and a parole violation.

—WWLTV.com

Hours after a man was shot and killed execution-style in a grocery store, two men were shot and killed in Philadelphia, Pa., early Tuesday. One victim was shot while walking in the Kensington neighborhood, and the second victim was found shot in the face in an S.U.V. in the city’s Kingsessing neighborhood. Police are investigating.

—NBC 10 Philadelphia

A teenager was shot and wounded while walking her baby in a stroller in a field behind an elementary school in Prichard, Ala., Tuesday afternoon. Police have a suspect in custody.

—Local15TV.com

A 15-year-old boy was hit by shotgun pellets while he and his friends were toiletpapering their principal’s home in Estill Springs, Tenn., Monday night. Dale Bryant Farris, 65, who lives two doors down from the principal’s home, fired at least two shots and struck the victim in the foot, knee, hand, thigh and torso. Farris is free on a $125,000 bond.

—TimesFreePress.com

16-year-old Lajordon Smith was shot four times following a dispute at a home in Auburndale, Fla., Monday night. The confrontation was sparked when a woman tried to pick up a table from her former residence and began arguing with Smith, who pulled out a gun. Police believe he was shot in self-defense.

—NewsChief.com

A 17-year-old boy was shot in the chest and killed in the Slavic Village area of Cleveland, Ohio, Tuesday evening. Police believe the teen was arguing with a man in his late teens or early 20s, and when the fight became physical, the man pulled a handgun.

—NewsNet5.com

A man was shot to death behind a Whole Foods in north Tampa, Fla., Tuesday morning, and David Saunders, who once played football for the Tampa Bay Storm, is the prime suspect. Investigators say the victim came at Saunders with a kitchen knife after the two fought over the victim’s girlfriend. Investigators are working to determine if the shooting was justified.

—ABC Action News

A 29-year-old woman was shot in the hand in Peoria, Ill., Monday afternoon. The victim told police a man on a porch yelled for her to walk toward him. When the woman did not comply, he pulled out a gun and shot her. No arrests have been made.

—Journal Star

A woman was shot in the leg and foot during a robbery at a home on the north side of Indianapolis, Ind., Tuesday morning. Police say a family of three was home when the suspects broke in and ransacked the residence. Another woman in the home was sexually assaulted, and the women were forced to drive to an A.T.M. and withdraw money. Four or five men are being sought.

—The Indianapolis Star

Two women were wounded, one seriously, in a domestic shooting in Fort Wayne, Ind., Monday night. 34-year-old Stephen Dale Walker, a registered sex offender, is wanted for questioning by police.

—Wane.com

Amiee J. Kearns, 42, was shot and killed during a robbery in an apartment in Ralston, Neb., late Monday. Kearns and another person were in her residence when two men armed with handguns entered and demanded money. The suspects fled.

—Omaha.com

A man was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the largely Amish and Mennonite Pinecraft Park community in Sarasota, Fla., Tuesday morning. He is expected to survive.

—WWSB

A man was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds following a robbery in Marion, Ohio, Monday night. The suspect is at large and considered armed and dangerous.

—NBC4i.com

A man was shot in the chest and critically injured northeast of Redding, Calif., early Tuesday. The motive and identity of the assailant are unknown.

—Redding.com

A 35-year-old man was shot in the leg while walking in Durham, N.C., Tuesday night. Police are soliciting tips.

—WNCN.com

A man was shot and killed following a transaction at a gas station in Atlanta, Ga., Tuesday afternoon. Police are executing search warrants. No one is in custody.

—11Alive.com

A 26-year-old man was shot and killed in a home in Buffalo, N.Y., late Monday. Police are searching for a suspect.

—WKBW.com

One person was wounded in a drive-by shooting in Raytown, Mo., Tuesday afternoon. Witnesses told police they saw a vehicle pull up to a home, and someone inside rolled down the window and opened fire. The vehicle then sped away.

—Fox4KC.com

A 23-year-old man was shot in the chest and killed in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, Ill., early Tuesday. The night before, a man in his 40s or early 50s was found shot to death inside his apartment in the Austin neighborhood. No one is in custody.

—Chicago Tribune

A 54-year-old man was shot in the groin in a home in Rochester Hills, Mich., Tuesday morning, and his 57-year-old girlfriend was arrested.

—CBS Detroit

According to Slate’s gun-death tracker, an estimated 9,980 people have died as a result of gun violence in America since the Newtown massacre on December 14, 2012.