The programs, policies, and people driving positive change in America’s gun violence problem.
Looking back at the stories we told, and which stuck with us, during an eventful year.
The role of the gun industry in America’s gun violence epidemic.
The National Rifle Association is one of the most powerful special interest groups in America. We’re investigating how it spends its money.
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How We Fix This
The gun background check system is only as good as the records it contains. How one affable bureaucrat helped Louisiana set the standard for flagging people banned from owning firearms.
ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced more firearms in the past 12 months than in any year on record. The agency performed more than 400,000 gun traces from October of 2016 through the first three weeks…
Law Enforcement
The city is ramping up its efforts to collect genetic material. But the absence of oversight alarms forensic and legal experts.
The city has launched an ambitious program to collect DNA from every gun recovered by police. But questions remain about effectiveness, and cost.
Posed in closed-door meetings, the agency's inquiry follows a Trump administration directive to slash government rules.
Mass Shooting
Sources say Jimmy Lam used a TEC-9 style pistol, illegal to sell in the state for almost two decades.
Chicago
The arrest of Francisco Sanchez for illegal gun possession adds to the troubles facing Cure Violence in its hometown.
Sellers of "solvent traps" were pushing the legal envelope. The bureau noticed.
The agency tasked with enforcing federal gun laws hasn’t had a permanent director for 8 of the last 10 years.
Internal memo called for federal officers to flood the city's highest-crime neighborhoods.
Ronald Turk, second in command at the agency, said his controversial memo was intended to spark an overdue conversation about outdated rules.
Data
DOJ Inspector General says the agency's oversight of the sources it pays to build cases needs "significant improvement."
“My hope and goal is to just speak truth,” wrote Zachary Fardon, who resigned this week as the city’s top prosecutor.
Background Checks
Security experts see danger in a Justice Department policy that weakens the system for screening firearms buyers wanted by law enforcement.
More people with outstanding arrest warrants will be able to legally buy guns under new rule.
Q & A
Andrew Boss leads a 17-person task force based in the Bronx.
