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Champe Barton

Champe Barton is a reporter at The Trace covering the gun industry. His work has focused on the role of gun distribution in America’s gun violence epidemic, including lax enforcement of federal firearms laws by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, failure by California police departments to properly trace crime guns, and efforts by gun manufacturers to monitor how the guns they produce slip into the criminal black market. His work has appeared in USA TODAYRolling Stone, Slate, The Guardian, FiveThirtyEight, and The Daily Beast, among other publications.

Coronavirus & Guns

Gun Shops Flouted State Closure Orders in April as Industry Notched Another Big Month

Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, and Washington all closed dealers because of the coronavirus. Firearms were still flying off shelves.

Gun Shops Flouted State Closure Orders in April as Industry Notched Another Big Month