Barbecues, fireworks, and marching bands are woven into the fabric of the July 4 holiday. But firearms have also become synonymous with the celebration. Independence Day weekend is almost always the time of year when gun violence kills or injures the most people, The Trace’s Olga Pierce reported last summer.
In 2022, as gun violence declined from its coronavirus-era highs, the pomp and circumstance of a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, was interrupted by gunfire. From a rooftop, a shooter armed with a semiautomatic rifle killed seven people and injured 48 others.
Three years later, the pain still lingers. In her latest story, The Trace’s Rita Oceguera explores how open court cases can prolong the healing of emotional wounds, sharing the stories of two Highland Park survivors who sat through a long, strange series of court proceedings for the source of their trauma.
By spotlighting the effect trial proceedings can have on survivors — seeing their shooter in close proximity, hearing harrowing details of a deadly event — Oceguera’s story emphasizes the need for additional support during the judicial journey.
Last month, an unexpected guilty plea spared Highland Park survivors from listening to yet another recollection of their traumatic experience. Together, they were able to take a step forward, toward closure, while having empathy for those stuck in a cycle of grief and uncertainty.
From The Trace
After a Mass Shooting Shattered Their Peace, Survivors Find Trauma — and Closure — in Court: A three-year quest for justice has given survivors of the Highland Park shooting a deeper understanding of the judicial process and how hard it can be on grieving families.
New Research Links Gun Violence Exposure to Higher Rates of Depression and Suicidal Ideation: A nationally representative study deepens what we know about the intersection of mental health, gun violence, and support services.
Trump’s War on Law Firms May Imperil Gun Suits: After the president sought to punish Paul Weiss, references to its pioneering work on firearms disappeared from the law firm’s website. Gun safety advocates fear a retreat.
What to Know Today
A collapse in National Rifle Association membership that began in 2018 continues. NRA President Bob Barr told board members in a March email that their group lost 286,215 members in 2024, and 38,943 more in the first two months of this year. “This rate of loss is unsustainable!” Barr wrote. Though the message did not include a membership total, it was believed to be around 4.3 million early in 2023. Those figures and the downward trend suggest that membership has dipped below 4 million, and an exodus of support is not the only trouble the NRA faces. A federal judge recently ruled that a civil suit brought by NRA members alleging the group engaged in racketeering and fraud can proceed. — Will Van Sant, staff writer
Since 2013, the Coalition for a Safer Delaware has been dedicated to gun violence prevention. The group has provided gun locks to families, support for survivors of suicide loss, and insight into how to strengthen gun safety laws both locally and nationwide. But the coalition is now contending with the loss of critical funding: It was expecting up to $400,000 in federal dollars, but the spending request was recently cancelled. As The Trace’s Afea Tucker reported last month, groups in Philadelphia are feeling a similar financial strain, and looking for alternative ways to generate revenue. [WHYY]
An Idaho community is in mourning after 17-year-old Victor Perez, who was autistic and nonverbal, died a week after police shot him from the other side of a fence. Local cops responded to a 911 call about an “intoxicated man” chasing someone with a knife. When police arrived, they saw Perez, who also had cerebral palsy, unsteadily making his way toward them. They fired shots about 12 seconds after stepping out of their patrol car. [Associated Press]
Across the nation, Indigenous people face a disproportionate number of violent crimes, including abductions. Over the next six months, an FBI initiative is expected to tap 60 people to serve 90-day rotations in Minnesota and nine other states, including Arizona and Oregon, to investigate the disappearances. While Operation Not Forgotten can provide hope, advocates said, it must also restore trust. [Sahan Journal]
The city of St. Paul is seeing a decrease in gun violence. Local law enforcement officials point to life coaches, youth intervention, and a dedicated unit for solving nonfatal shootings for the decline. As of April 8, eight people were injured by shootings — down from 26 at the same time last year. Even with these improvements, St. Paul’s chief of police is reluctant to say “we’ve cracked the code.” [Pioneer Press]
Texas lawmakers are considering a number of bills to loosen gun regulations in the state, including proposals to allow people with concealed carry licenses to bring firearms to the polls during voting periods and to lower the age to carry a handgun to 18. Also up for debate: legislation to reduce restrictions on short-barrel firearms, the type of weapon used in the 2018 mass shooting at Santa Fe High School. [The Texas Newsroom]
A billboard ad for a firearm is stirring controversy in Oakland, California. The advertised gun was designed to comply with the state’s strict gun laws, per its manufacturer, but while it’s technically legal, residents have reacted to the billboard with shock and distaste on social media. As The Trace’s Champe Barton reported in 2023, it’s rare to see an advertisement for a firearm: While federal law doesn’t prohibit firearm manufacturers from advertising, many private companies have banned gun ads on their platforms. [The Oaklandside]
Data Point
40 percent — the proportion of respondents to a nationally representative survey who said they had heard gunshots multiple times in their lives. [The Trace]
Non Sequitur
‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son
“The man who was once known as Peter Herrmann sat opposite me on a sofa at his house in the suburbs of Washington D.C. In the half-century since the conversation in Lima, he had only told the full story of how he was dragged into the KGB twice: once to his wife, shortly before they got married, and once in a series of interviews with me over the past few years.” [The Guardian]
