It’s incredible that any politician would champion the rights of violent criminals at the expense of women and children’s safety. But many conservatives in Congress, under Eric Cantor’s leadership, voted yesterday to oppose renewing protections for abused women and children. Meanwhile, they’re fighting for the power of criminals, rapists, and stalkers to get guns. Stronger gun laws help keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals. The Violence Against Women Act revolutionized the way we prosecute violent criminals. House conservatives refuse to support both.

The new bipartisan Violence Against Women Act bill resolves the procedural complaint House conservatives used as an excuse to force this landmark law to expire — but it didn’t resolve their opposition to extending the law’s protections to more women. A woman’s chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 7 times if he’s got a gun. Our laws should protect all women and children from violence and keep violent criminals from getting guns, and the new Violence Against Women Act does just that.