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.
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Brian Freskos is a Chicago-based staff writer who covers the Midwest. His work has primarily focused on gun trafficking and community-based violence prevention.
Gun Trafficking
Tracking stolen firearms through the black market, from gun store thefts to crime scenes.
Off Target
The Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act, introduced by House Democrats, would make it easier for the ATF to shut down sellers who break federal regulations.
The White House’s multipronged strategy would require the bureau to revoke the licenses of gun dealers found breaking the law, and encourage cities to use pandemic relief funds for community-led violence intervention.
Following an investigation by The Trace and USA TODAY, lawmakers are urging the agency to take a tougher line on gun sellers who break federal regulations.
The Trace and USA TODAY’s database of nearly 2,000 ATF inspection reports is a useful tool for reporters, policymakers, and members of the public.
In a sweeping investigation, The Trace and USA TODAY found the federal agency charged with policing the gun industry let dealers get away with falsifying records and selling firearms without background checks.
The Business of Guns
The Boulder gunman had recently purchased an AR-556 with a stabilizing brace, an accessory that allows a category of firearms to evade strict federal regulations.
Mass Shooting
The mass shooting at King Soopers supermarket has added fuel to efforts to let cities regulate guns.
After Jimenez Arms went into bankruptcy, the company’s owner tried to revive his gunmaking business under a different name. Now, plaintiffs are trying to compel the ATF to close it down for good.
Coronavirus & Guns
In over a dozen cities, homicides rose by 50 percent or more this year. “It’s very likely that these increases are larger than any on record,” said one criminologist.
Politics
The city's decision to enforce a requirement to report lost or stolen guns has opened another front in an intensifying battle against the state's restrictive pre-emption law.
Lawyers Mark and Patricia McCloskey won hundreds of thousands of dollars for clients injured by faulty handguns.
Facing multiple lawsuits, Jimenez Arms declared bankruptcy earlier this year. Now it's starting anew.
Gun Policy
Before they instigated some of the earliest protests against COVID-19 shutdowns, the Dorr brothers honed a brand of fiery Second Amendment activism that doesn’t sway lawmakers, but keeps the donations flowing.
Law Enforcement
The projectiles that officers are firing at protestors are “dangerous, indiscriminate, and potentially lethal,” said a researcher who examined data on nearly 2,000 people hit by them.
Debate is brewing about the constitutionality of limiting gun rights during the coronavirus pandemic.
