It’s Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer and the time of year when many begin preparing for a seasonal spike in gun violence. As The Trace’s Fairriona Magee has reported, research has linked high temperatures and shootings. A 2021 study found that abnormally high daily temperatures in U.S. cities were associated with higher levels of shootings. Overall, Magee reported, that study found that nearly 7 percent of all shootings could be attributed to days hotter than a city’s median temperature.
But even as a potential seasonal spike in gun violence approaches, there are reasons to feel optimistic that any increase won’t be as bad as in previous years. The Trace’s Olga Pierce reported that last year, the July 4 weekend — almost always the time of year when gun violence kills or injures the most people — saw fewer people shot than in any year since 2019. Gun violence continued a significant decline in 2024 as a whole. And according to criminologist Jeff Asher, available data suggests that drop is likely continuing in 2025.
From The Trace
Trump’s Cuts Imperil Life-Saving Prevention Efforts, Lawsuit Says: Five nonprofits are suing the administration for canceling hundreds of millions of dollars for violence prevention.
Trump Clears Way for Rapid-Fire Triggers. How Much Will It Matter?: Experts disagree about the consequences of bringing forced reset triggers — devices similar to auto sears and bump stocks — back to the market.
When Fatal Shooting Victims Are Black, Chicago Police Arrest Rates Drop: A Trace analysis found that Chicago’s clearance rates are declining even with fewer homicides to solve. Thousands of families are still looking for closure.
What to Know Today
A jury found former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial guilty of involuntary manslaughter and related crimes for shooting and killing 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry in 2023, but acquitted Dial of a murder charge. As The Trace’s Mensah M. Dean reported at the time, Irizarry’s death strained public trust in police — not least because the department’s initial narrative on the fatal encounter turned out to be false. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended two Democratic state attorneys over his contention that they were ignoring the law. As for DeSantis’s support of the state attorney general who says he won’t defend a state gun law, the governor says that’s a “different situation.” [Florida Phoenix]
Amid a citywide “100 Days of Peace” initiative, Jackson, Mississippi, ousted the head of its relatively nascent Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery, specialist Keisha Coleman. The reason? In an email to other officials, Coleman said her “termination, verbally framed as a ‘loyalty’ issue, follows repeated attempts to hold the administration accountable for gross misuse of public funds and nepotism that jeopardized critical community safety programs.” [Mississippi Today]
Two recent high-profile shootings returned attention to Mexico’s gun violence crisis. Valeria Márquez, a 23-year-old social media influencer, was killed during a livestream on TikTok earlier this month, and last week, two top aides to Mexico City’s mayor were killed by at least one gunman while they were on their way to work. A new analysis of gun trafficking to Mexico from the U.S. provides further evidence that American guns are fueling violence across the southern border. [Associated Press/The Washington Post/The Conversation]
A Chicago man was charged with murder for the fatal shootings of Israeli Embassy employees Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The killings have been condemned as an act of antisemitism. [Reuters]
Saturday marked three years since the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Jesse Rizo, who lost his niece, 9-year-old Jackie Cazares, turned his pain into a search for solutions and a run for office. Last May, he was elected to the district’s school board. [Texas Observer]
Data Point
135,000 — the estimated number of guns trafficked from the U.S. into Mexico in 2022, according to a model based on prior estimates and research, firearm manufacturing totals, and the ATF trace data. By comparison, Ukraine received 40,000 small arms from the U.S. between January 2020 and April 2024. [The Conversation]
Non Sequitur
Vacant offices, strip malls may get new life as housing in Texas’ largest cities
The bill is part of a suite of GOP proposals aimed at curbing the state’s high housing costs — chiefly by allowing more homes to be built. [The Texas Tribune]
