The data came from the Supplementary Homicide Reports submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Results also revealed that 57 percent of these victims were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers. Husbands or intimate acquaintances short and killed 393 women during the course of an argument. Fifty-two percent of all the female homicides were committed with firearms; 75 percent of the firearms homicides involved handguns. Homicides were not related to the commission of any other felony such s rape or robbery in 85 percent of all cases where circumstances could be determined. Louisiana ranked first as the State with the highest rate of homicides involving female victims and male offenders in single victim/single offender situations. Nevada and Arkansas had the next highest rates. No such homicides occurred in New Hampshire or Kansas. Ten percent of the victims were under age 18; 8 percent were age 65 or older. Victims included 1,140 white females, of whom 140 were Hispanic; 693 black females; 51 Asian or Pacific Islanders; and 17 American Indian or Alaska natives. Findings indicated that having a gun in the home was a crucial factor in the escalation of nonfatal spouse abuse to homicide and that the greatest threat to women comes from someone they know, most often a spouse or intimate acquaintance, who is armed with a gun. Figures, table, footnotes, and appended state-by-state table and additional information on the 15 states with the highest rates of female homicides