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.
The Industry
The latest attempt to hold gunmakers accountable for soaring violence relies on a novel legal argument.
How We Fix This
The Advance Peace model, which pairs young people with mentors and rewards them for reaching life goals, has achieved positive outcomes in other cities. It's about to face its biggest test yet.
A long-winding legal case brought by the city of Gary, Indiana, faces a crucial test in September, when a judge will rule whether a handful of major gun manufacturers have to hand over years of internal documents.
Criminal Justice
Hamid Abd-Al-Jabbar and David Thompson bonded in juvenile detention in the 1980s, then spent most of the next 40 years in prison. When they emerged from one of the country’s most unforgiving state penal systems, their friendship proved crucial.
Law Enforcement
The board, established five years ago in the wake of Michael Brown’s killing, is supposed to review all concluded internal investigations of police shootings. Despite dozens of incidents, it has yet to see a single case.
Mass Shooting
High-casualty shootings didn’t disappear during the pandemic — they nearly doubled.
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.
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 1.4 million guns were sold in August, 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.”
