Featured Story
A longtime friend and Army Reserve colleague of the shooter who killed 18 people in October in Lewiston, Maine, testified before a state commission that the gunman was released from a New York psychiatric facility last summer with a “hold” barring him from possessing guns there for 10 years. Staff members from the facility previously said they recommended the shooter’s personal weapons be taken from his home, yet he still had access to weapons in Maine. [The Boston Globe]
Chicago
Shootings overall declined in Chicago last year, but that peace wasn’t distributed evenly across the city — and in 17 neighborhoods, shootings actually increased in 2023 compared with 2022. Three areas experienced the most gun violence since 2010: Fuller Park, West Elsdon, and Hyde Park. Residents and organizers said the rise is a wakeup call for the city to be more proactive and further invest resources in certain areas.
Time and time again, the city has said it will invest in communities most affected by gun violence. But several advocates and residents told The Trace’s Rita Oceguera that many still feel left behind. Chicago’s Community Safety Coordination Center has 15 high-priority community areas where it has focused its efforts in reducing gun violence. Most of the neighborhoods where shootings increased have been left off the list. Oceguera has more on the tangible effects of gun violence in these communities and how residents hope Chicago will respond.
What to Know Today
The long-term consequences of exposure to gun violence on children has been vastly understudied, but new research is shedding light on a broad “ripple effect.” What do we know? [Undark]
Three pieces of gun safety legislation advanced out of the Delaware House Judiciary Committee last week. The measures include banning guns on college campuses, creating a voluntary registry for people who wish to prevent themselves from buying firearms, and more narrowly defining what counts as a gun under state law. [WHYY]
In a new exhibition in New York, prominent artist Maurizio Cattelan focuses his work on gun violence, with installations that force the audience to witness the aftermath of a shooting and gaze at their reflections in a mirror riddled with bullet holes. “We are completely immersed in violence every day, and we’ve gotten used to it,” said Cattelan. “The repetition has made us accept violence as inevitable.” [The New York Times]
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, claimed in a recent interview that “Congress prohibits the NIH from researching the cause of mass shootings.” That’s not true. [PolitiFact]
Archive
An Emerging Group of Researchers Is Changing Our Understanding of Gun Violence: The Black and Brown Collective was formed to address inequities in the gun violence research community. Its diversity is reflected in its work — and is strengthening the field itself. (March 2024)
