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.
Champe Barton started at The Trace as a fellow, and is now a reporter covering community violence and the gun industry.
Coronavirus & Guns
Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, and Washington all closed dealers because of the coronavirus. Firearms were still flying off shelves.
Mass Shooting
High-casualty shootings didn’t disappear during the pandemic — they nearly doubled.
How We Fix This
While local leaders seek answers to a sharp rise in violent crime, experts worry the Justice Department’s CrimeSolutions clearinghouse may be holding back effective programs.
The Industry
Breaking down the technology, the legality, and the ideology of a growing movement.
The Business of Guns
After major social media platforms cracked down, makers of largely unregulated firearms flocked to Keybase. Now they must find a new home.
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.
Election 2020
A Pennsylvania event organized by the sons of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon featured speakers like Steve Bannon, who repeated unfounded claims about voter fraud.
An opinion handed down in a Pennsylvania appeals court threatens a law that gunmakers have long used as a shield against wrongful-death suits.
2020 is on pace to have the most mass shootings since the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive started tracking them. In their wake, anti-violence activists say the lack of public outpouring feels familiar: “Nobody cares about us.”
About 1.3 million guns were sold in April, according to seasonally adjusted estimates.
Business has never been better for the gun industry. But store owners say they’re still struggling. “If you sell 50 guns but only can bring 25 in, it’s gonna catch up to you.”
Daily Bulletin
Receive this daily news briefing by email every morning. Sign up here. WHAT TO KNOW TODAY The House passed a sweeping police reform bill. Among other provisions, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act…
Receive this daily news briefing by email every morning. Sign up here. WHAT TO KNOW TODAY NEW from THE TRACE: Chicago graduates a new class of gun violence interrupters. For the past three years, the Metropolitan Peace Academy…
Law Enforcement
From law enforcement killings to basic traffic stops, firearms shape every encounter between officers and civilians, especially when those interactions involve Black people.
In many cities, gun violence is dealing a double blow to black communities already ravaged by the pandemic. Community outreach workers are struggling to keep up.
With coronavirus cases multiplying in his city, Dallas doctor Niladri Basu worries about how he and his colleagues will care for gunshot patients when ambulance wait times grow and medical supplies become scarce.
