Featured Story
Last year, Minnesota Democrats, who hold a one-vote majority in the state Senate, seized “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to pass expansive gun reforms. With just three weeks left in the 2024 legislative session, the fate of several proposed gun safety bills is uncertain, and may hinge on the upper chamber. The measures at stake include requirements to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement within 48 hours; safe storage mandates; tougher penalties for straw purchasers; and a ban on some rapid-fire triggers. [Minnesota Reformer/Axios]
The Trajectory
In February 2023, four Black-led national anti-violence organizations embarked on an ambitious initiative to reduce community gun violence. The mission of the Coalition to Advance Public Safety, the collaborative effort they launched, is straightforward but challenging: enhance the effectiveness of local violence reduction efforts through better resource allocation, coordination, and technical support. The group began its work with a cohort of four cities: Baltimore; Indianapolis; Newark, New Jersey; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
A year after launch, each of the participating cities has seen decreases in gun violence. But leaders from the organizations that make up CAPS are careful not to take full credit: CAPS measures success not only by reduced shootings, but also by whether the community violence intervention ecosystem in each city becomes “more robust and more connected and coordinated,” Anthony Smith, the executive director of CAPS member Cities United, told The Trace’s Chip Brownlee.
With lessons in hand, CAPS is preparing to expand its initiative to four more cities, aiming to replicate and refine its model of community-driven violence reduction. For the latest edition of The Trajectory, Brownlee spoke with Smith about the intricacies of the CAPS implementation, its challenges, and the tangible success it has achieved in reshaping public safety strategies so far.
What to Know Today
Four law enforcement officers were killed and four others wounded in a shooting that broke out as they tried to serve a warrant for illegal firearm possession at a home in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service and local police were met with gunfire from a “high-powered rifle” and returned fire; the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief said the subject of the warrant was the suspected shooter. [CNN/The Washington Post]
South Dakota governor and GOP vice presidential hopeful Kristi Noem set off a political firestorm with a story, included in her forthcoming book, about deciding to shoot and kill her family dog. What hasn’t made headlines: The story may also recount Noem committing a class two misdemeanor under state law. [The Guardian]
What would the world look like if there were no guns? Ten artists were asked to invent such a future, and their responses range from visions of science fiction to spiritual emancipation. [WHYY]
The family of Ralph Yarl, the Missouri teenager who survived being shot in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell, is suing the homeowner who shot him and the homeowners association for the neighborhood where the shooting took place. The family claims that the homeowner, who is white, was careless and never gave Yarl, who is Black, a verbal warning; they say that the homeowners association should have been aware of the shooter’s “propensity for violence, access to dangerous weapons and racial animus.” [NBC]
Archive
Missouri Considers a ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law That Would Be the First Since the Trayvon Martin Shooting: The supercharged version Republican lawmakers are pushing adds an extra layer of protection for gun owners who kill while claiming self defense. (March 2016)
