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Most Veterans Own a Gun — and Many Keep It Loaded
More than half of military veterans with access to firearms store them unsafely, and nearly 40 percent store their guns loaded, according to a new study published this month. Led by researchers at Yale University, the study consisted of data from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, a national sample of 2,441 veterans. It found that half of former military service members owned at least one personal firearm. The findings also showed a link between a history of exposure to direct trauma, like physical assault, and an increased likelihood of unsafe storage practices.
Philadelphia’s New Public Safety Plan Calls for More Data, Boots on the Ground
On the day before Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel announced a sweeping public safety plan, a shooting shattered the peace in West Philadelphia during a large celebration marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The April 10 shooting during the Eid al-Fitr gathering...
Teachers Say They’re Struggling With the Reality of Guns In Schools
When a minor earthquake struck the East Coast last week, second-grade teacher Abbey Clements saw the fearful look in her students’ eyes, “searching for answers and safety in me.” It was a look she and countless teachers across the country have become well accustomed to in recent years, but for a very different reason — anxiety brought on by the fear of another school shooting.
The Biden Administration Is Trying to Expand Background Checks for Gun Sales
The Biden administration has finalized a rule meant to reduce the number of guns sold without background checks. Calling it the largest expansion of background checks in more than 30 years, Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters on April 10 that the new rule will close a gap in federal law that has allowed businesses to avoid becoming federally licensed gun dealers while still routinely selling guns at gun shows or on the internet.
Lost and Stolen Guns Are More Likely to Be Used in Crimes, Study Finds
Guns that go missing or are stolen from their original owners are much more prone to be used in crimes, according to a new analysis that provides insights into how legally bought firearms slip onto the black market. For the study, which was announced in March after being published in...
Columbine Shaped a New Era in America’s Gun Debate
April 20, 1999 was a turning point. It was the day Columbine — a name taken from a beautiful wildflower — became synonymous with tragedy, when two students opened fire at their Colorado high school, killing 12 of their classmates and one teacher and injuring two dozen other people. The violence, and the live news coverage of it, is remembered as a sort of induction to a new world: the country’s dramatic introduction to the scourge of school shootings.
The Armed Era
You drop your child off at kindergarten where they learn how to hide from an active shooter. You spot a rifle-strapped shopper in the cereal aisle at the supermarket. You stuff your belongings in a clear bag to go to a concert. Your nephew’s high school football game is evacuated when gunshots erupt outside the stadium — again.
Friends Don’t Let Friends Buy Guns
This story was published in partnership with The Guardian. Once upon a time in America, people rolled their eyes at seatbelts, four out of ten high school students smoked cigarettes, and campers left their fires smoldering through the night. Then we changed. Not primarily because of policy reforms, but because teams of marketers crafted public health messaging campaigns in which chatty crash test dummies told us to buckle up, teens piled 1,200 body bags in front of the Philip Morris headquarters, and Smokey Bear identified who, precisely, can prevent forest fires.
Introducing “In Guns We Trust”: A Podcast About How the U.S. Became So Divided Over Guns
The gun has become enshrined as a political symbol in America, one that represents our most cherished values — freedom, democracy, individualism — as well as our deepest shame. For centuries, Americans have attempted to balance, through regulation, the dangers of gun violence with the right to bear...
Philly Has a Fraught History With Stop-And-Frisk Policing. Will Mayor Parker Expand Its Use?
Cherelle Parker capped her campaign to become Philadelphia’s first woman mayor by pledging to make the city safer by any legal means necessary – even if it meant ramping up the use of stop-and-frisk policing, a controversial tactic that allows officers to detain and pat someone down for investigative purposes.
It’s Hard to Implement Red Flag Laws. A New National Center Is Meant to Make It Easier.
Six years ago, the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, took the lives of 14 students and three educators. The massacre transformed many survivors and victims’ family members into fierce advocates for gun reform, working to turn the tragedy into an impetus for change.
To Guard Against Intimidation, States Explore Banning Guns at Polls
Marie Wicks, the city clerk of East Lansing, Michigan, has been training election workers for more than a decade, and every year they ask what to do if someone brings a gun to a polling place. “I dread when this question comes up, because I have neither a definitive answer,...
How Philadelphians Feel About Violence On Public Transit
This piece was adapted from an edition of The Trace’s Philadelphia newsletter. Subscribe via this link or the embed below for exclusive monthly updates from engagement reporter Afea Tucker. This month, as news about violence on Philadelphia’s transit system just kept coming, I couldn’t help but think about Tyshaun...
You’re More Likely to Be Shot in Selma Than in Chicago
In the fall of 2021, Summer Tatum, a radiology technician in Prattville, Alabama, was looking forward to the birth of her first child, a boy. She had already chosen a name, Everett. But by last October, Tatum’s young family was crumbling. She and her husband had been arguing for days...
Here’s How We Analyzed 10 Years of GVA Data
The Gun Violence Archive is an independent organization that gathers information about gun violence via the news, social media, and police reports — and amasses it into a publicly available database. There are limitations to this approach: Not all acts of gun violence are covered in the news or...
If You’ve Been Shot in Illinois, Here’s How to Get Victim’s Compensation
If you — or someone you know — have been a victim of a violent crime, you might be eligible for reimbursement from the state of Illinois to help cover some of your costs. Recent changes to the Illinois Crime Victim Compensation Program have made it easier for applicants to be approved for assistance, and to receive their money quicker. You can read more about these changes here. Many people, however, still don’t know about the program or find the application process daunting. We’re breaking it down and sharing useful tips on eligibility and access. You can apply online here.
Riding the Subway With Guns
Over the past few weeks, New Yorkers have seen jarring glimpses of violence in the subway system. First, Governor Kathy Hochul brought long-gun-packing National Guard soldiers into stations across the city in response to rising subway crime and MTA-worker protests about on-the-job safety. Riders of the A train in Brooklyn...
The Gun Groups Scrambling to Fill the NRA’s Void
The National Rifle Association is weakened. Last month, after years of revenue and membership declines, the group and its longtime boss and fundraising talisman Wayne LaPierre were found liable in a civil corruption case. Although LaPierre resigned on the eve of trial, jurors ruled that his misconduct had been egregious enough to warrant removal.
Is There Still Momentum for Community-Based Violence Prevention?
Four years ago last week, police in Louisville, Kentucky, shot and killed 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. Her death, the murder of George Floyd by police two months later in Minneapolis, and a long history of police killing Black people — and facing few consequences — sparked unprecedented demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice in 2020. But the protests sparked something else, too: a newfound wave of momentum for alternative approaches to public safety that don’t involve police.
Amid Record Violence, Philadephia’s Transit System Quietly Unplugged Its New Gun-Detection System
On March 6, eight Northeast High School students were shot while waiting to catch a city bus at Rising Sun and Cottman Avenues, a bustling Northeast Philadelphia intersection. Seven sustained non-life-threatening injuries; one 16-year-old boy was shot nine times in the torso and rushed to the hospital. The diverse school community of 3,450 students was so shaken that Northeast instituted full virtual learning for the next two days.
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