As America’s gun violence epidemic continues, Alec MacGillis reports for The New Yorker and ProPublica, a recent flood of federal dollars is providing an opportunity for community-based violence intervention programs to prove the value of their work.
As Olga Pierce reported for The Trace earlier this month, assessing the effectiveness of community-based violence intervention is a difficult endeavor — programs are varied and neighborhoods aren’t laboratories, complicating ordinary evaluation. There are other challenges, too. The work itself can be dangerous and traumatizing, and the deadline to show success to leaders and taxpayers is tight: The federal grants end in 2026.
But community-based solutions “should be seen as a core city function,” Shani Buggs, an assistant professor of public health at the University of California, Davis, told MacGillis. “There’s never a question about whether they should get rid of the police department because violence hasn’t gone down.”
Get the Bulletin in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletters here.What to Know Today
Gun owners have said they largely support safe firearm storage mandates. So why aren’t these laws more common? [The Washington Post] Context: A recent RAND analysis found that child access prevention laws reduce youth suicides and firearm injuries.
The “Garden of Grace” is a burial site for teenagers and young adults within a cemetery near St. Louis. Many of the young people buried there were victims of gun violence. [Kaiser Health News]
Dancers have returned to Lai Lai Studio & Ballroom in Alhambra, California, where the Monterey Park shooter went after killing 11 people at another nearby dance hall. “Nobody wanted to stop the classes,” said a Lai Lai instructor. “It’s a very strong community.” [Los Angeles Times]
A group of Democratic senators asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the marketing tactics of the company behind the “JR-15,” a child-size AR-style rifle. [The Washington Post] Context: Hundreds of companies make their own AR-style rifles.
A 2021 Missouri law effectively banned public employees, including police, from enforcing any federal gun laws. It’s left law enforcement agencies and courts across the state in confusion about dealing with gun crimes. [PBS NewsHour]
Philadelphia mayoral candidates say, if elected, they will declare gun violence a citywide emergency. But what would this actually mean? The effect depends on the mayor who implements the measure. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
The 1993 Waco standoff — between ATF agents and a small religious group — sparked the American militia movement, and helped shape the modern far right. [The Washington Post]
Violent crime dropped in 35 cities in 2022, a new report found — and in the 27 cities that report more detailed data, homicides decreased 4 percent, representing 242 fewer murders. [Council on Criminal Justice]
Data Point
23 — the number of states that have some form of safe storage law or child access prevention law. Washington, D.C., also has a child access prevention law. [Giffords]
