Democrat presidential hopeful Robert “Beto” O’Rourke tweeted on Saturday his support for closing what the left refers to as the “boyfriend loophole.”

This latest loophole began to emerge in the leftist thought in 2014, when Gabby Giffords pushed a gun ban that would treat a “dating partner” on par with a spouse as far as gun possession was concerned. The push has since been championed by Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety, where it is presented as an effort to close the “boyfriend loophole.”

This effort ultimately expands the National Instant Criminal Background Check System’s (NICS) prohibited purchaser’s list, adding certain dinner dates or brief, former dating partners to the left’s growing list of people who cannot purchases firearms.

O’Rourke is on board with the ban:

On average, 52 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner each month. Women’s experiences of gun violence are inextricably linked to domestic abuse. That’s why we must close the Boyfriend Loophole and prevent stalkers and abusers from having easy access to guns. https://t.co/RbwvTD4L14 — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) October 18, 2019

The left’s efforts to use domestic monikers to prevent gun ownership by a boyfriend or dating partner is presented as a way to keep women safe. But the reality is that a woman is often at a disadvantage in an attack whether a gun is involved or not, and a woman with a gun can level the playing field (if not turn the tables altogether).

The Washington Post reported U.S. Census information showing how effective a gun can be for a woman who is under duress. It reported:

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts in-person interviews with several thousand persons annually, for the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). In 1992-2002, over 2,000 of the persons interviewed disclosed they had been raped or sexually assaulted. Of them, only 26 volunteered that they used a weapon to resist. In none of those 26 cases was the rape completed; in none of the cases did the victim suffer additional injury after she deployed her weapon.

On April 4, 2017, Breitbart News reported on stalking victim Dawn Hillyer, who spoke about the terrifying 60 days she had to spend without a gun while waiting for a concealed carry permit. She described the wait for government permission to carry a gun for self-defense as “unacceptable” and noted that the experience taught her the important role a gun plays in delivering piece of mind and the ability to protect one’s self.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.