Top Story
Schools nationwide have set up anonymous tip lines for students to submit information about concerning situations or gun-related threats. New research evaluating the effectiveness of one such program, the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System, found that 10 percent of all tips referenced a firearm, and half of the tips involving guns required an immediate response. [NPR/Pediatrics]
Chicago
For people who have lost loved ones to gun violence, navigating grief is a year-round battle. But winter — its dark days and holiday celebrations — can aggravate the loss. Coupled with the societal expectation that survivors should just move on, this makes for an especially emotional time of year to cope. And in Chicago, where the weather can get brutally cold, the season may feel particularly isolating.
The Trace’s Rita Oceguera spoke to several mothers in Chicago who have lost their children to gun violence. Their journey with grief is ongoing, they said, and some moments are harder than others — but they’re learning to turn to one another for support.
What to Know Today
The Justice Department is expected today to release its report on the law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. In the months since the massacre, damning records documenting how police reacted have trickled into the public. [Uvalde Leader-News/Associated Press]
American guns are linked to violence across the globe — and in the Caribbean, home to a rising gun violence epidemic, the problem is especially acute. According to regional officials, about 90 percent of the Caribbean’s murder weapons are purchased legally in the U.S. and then smuggled overseas. [Bloomberg]
During his second day of testimony in New York’s corruption trial against the NRA, the group’s former chief financial officer Woody Phillips said he was aware that, in 2018, Oliver North was entering into a contract with the gun group’s longtime PR firm while North held the typically unpaid role of NRA president. When the firm, Ackerman McQueen, sought reimbursement for paying North upward of $1 million a year, Phillips said he did not bring the contract to the attention of the nonprofit group’s audit committee. [NBC]
As in many of the country’s rural areas, far-right extremist groups and militia movements are thriving in Upstate New York. In “If All Else Fails,” a podcast launched this month, reporters explore why they’re gaining support in the North Country — and find that, for many, gun rights are the animating factor. [North Country Public Radio]
In an era of frequent school shootings, architects are tasked with designing campuses that provide students with a line of defense, but that aren’t so hardened that they interrupt the learning experience. What does that look like in practice? [The Assembly]
Data Point
23 percent — the proportion of school shootings that take place in a parking lot. Parking lots are the most frequent sites of school shootings, followed by classrooms, at 10 percent. [Campus Safety via The Assembly]
