The ATF, charged with policing the gun industry, lets dealers get away with falsifying records and selling firearms without background checks.
The programs, policies, and people driving positive change in America’s gun violence problem.
American lives, shaped by guns.
The National Rifle Association is one of the most powerful special interest groups in America. We’re investigating how it spends its money.
Our team, our mission, our partners, and more. Plus: How to contact us.
We report stories that would go untold. Generous readers sustain our work.
Sign up now to get our latest stories and eye-opening briefings.
Alex Yablon was a reporter at The Trace.
National Rifle Association
In recent years, medical professionals have jumped into the debate over gun policy. In 2015, doctors’ groups issued a call to action on reducing firearm violence. Last year, hundreds more doctors joined the #ThisIsOurLane push against the National…
The Business of Guns
Forced by investors to consider the prospect of developing smart guns, two of the oldest gun companies in America have released reports rejecting the idea. Sturm, Ruger & Co. and American Outdoor Brands (AOBC), the parent company of Smith…
How We Fix This
Safe storage, red flag laws, group therapy, and focusing on likely offenders can help prevent shootings.
Americans usually stock up on firearms when new restrictions are in the air. But not last year.
Background Checks
Examining the research on the policy Democrats hope to push through Congress.
New York regulators have fined 10 insurance companies a total of $5 million for underwriting the National Rifle Association’s troubled self-defense insurance programs in violation of state law, The Trace has learned. The fines were part of a…
Ask The Trace
A kid can’t shoot anyone without getting a firearm from an adult.
Data
Nearly 40,000 people were killed by guns in the United States in 2017, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The total brings the country’s gun death rate to its highest point in more…
A 20-year-old man named Tyler Watson, who alleged age discrimination after he was denied a gun sale by Dick’s Sporting Goods, has settled his case against the retailer in Oregon’s Jackson County Circuit Court. According to state court…
The National Rifle Association is under additional scrutiny after The Wall Street Journal reported the group gave lucrative contracts to companies with ties to NRA executives. Acting as a spokesperson for the NRA in the story was William A. Brewer…
The National Rifle Association and its longtime insurance business partner are settling a rancorous months-long legal dispute over the fate of the troubled Carry Guard self-defense insurance program, court records show. The NRA and insurance broker Lockton…
Several staffers at NRATV, the National Rifle Association’s video streaming operation, have been laid off, according to a former staffer. Longtime NRATV producer and correspondent Cameron Gray tweeted Wednesday that he and “several colleagues” had been terminated this morning.
Open Carry
The city of Charlottesville, Virginia, was powerless to prevent attendees from carrying guns at last year’s Unite the Right rally. But one of the state’s top officials, Attorney General Mark Herring, thinks he can prevent a similar situation from unfolding…
Gun Policy
A vocal group of doctors is pushing physicians groups to stop contributing to candidates supported by the National Rifle Association.
The AR-15 has been called “America’s rifle,” a weapon emblematic of our national gun culture. But a new survey finds that in the country’s most populous state, a small contingent of hardcore collectors own the vast majority of…
