Spousal homicides differ from other homicides in that husbands and wives apparently shoot each other much less often than homicide offenders overall. Knives and other sharp instruments are used more often in spousal homicides. Husband-wife quarrels are also more deadly than arguments generally, with a substantial majority of spousal homicides arising from angry exchanges. Although husbands and wives kill their spouses in roughly equal proportions, husband victims frequently provoke the attack, and wives often kill husbands in self-defense. The aforementioned data coupled with the psychological and sociological etiology of wife beating presented in the spouse abuse literature support the view that spousal homicide is a crime of passion rather than a premeditated killing. This suggests that it could be reduced by gun control legislation that bans all guns. Registration and licensing programs probably would not affect the incidence of spousal homicides. In the event of a handgun ban, the substituted weapon would probably be a knife, which is much less lethal than a gun. Given the difficulty of passing such legislation, however, the reduction of spousal homicide is more likely to occur by the use of other strategies designed to reduce stress and violence in intimate relationships. 135 footnotes.