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Violence intervention workers, police, and prosecutors agree that social media is playing a role in the growing number of young people who fall victim to shootings or homicide. They understand the urgency to curb the violence — but solutions to the phenomenon are elusive. [ProPublica]
From Our Team
Lakya Knight is just 18 years old, but she’s already lost several family members to gun violence. Knight is a resident of the West Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, and like the rest of the city, her community has experienced fewer fatal shootings this year compared with last year.
While the trend appears promising on its face, the numbers paint a more complex picture: The drop in Chicago’s gun homicide rate so far in 2023 is smaller than the one between 2021 and 2022, and at the current pace, the city is unlikely to reach prepandemic levels by the end of the year.
In West Pullman, Knight and her neighbors still have to “look over our shoulders,” she said. Organizers and residents like Knight told The Trace’s Rita Oceguera that they want consistent violence reduction efforts to make the city safer — and that while the decrease means fewer lives lost to gun violence, there’s more work to be done.
What to Know Today
The Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration can temporarily continue regulating ghost gun kits as completed firearms while a lawsuit against the policy plays out, superseding a district judge’s decision to block the ATF from enforcing the rule in July. The high court issued the provisional order in a 5-4 vote. [The New York Times]
Violence intervention workers, police, and prosecutors agree that social media is playing a role in the growing number of young people who fall victim to shootings or homicide. They understand the urgency to curb the violence — but solutions to the phenomenon are elusive. [ProPublica]
A federal judge temporarily blocked Colorado from enforcing a new law raising the age to purchase any firearm to 21. The judge issued the ruling one day before the law was set to take effect. [The Colorado Sun]
Violent crime is up in Oakland, California, but the city just cut millions in funding for its Department of Violence Prevention — the agency tasked with stopping violence before it happens. As the department figures out how to whittle down its budget, what could be lost from the residents it’s meant to protect? [The Oaklandside]
As Washington state closes out its primary election season, leading candidates for seats in several major cities appear to have an issue in common: support for some form of sending unarmed civilians, rather than police, to respond to 911 calls about mental health crises or nonviolent crimes. [KNXK]
The new school year is starting for kids across the country, and polls show that fears about student safety are running high. Northeastern University criminology professor James Alan Fox argues that while the anxieties are understandable, the math indicates that deadly on-campus shootings aren’t actually that common. [USA TODAY]
In Texas, a state with a long history of anti-Latino violence and an apparent growth in right-wing extremism, some Latino gun owners consider their firearm purchases a necessary protective measure — but their decision to carry a gun in Texas didn’t come without baggage. [The Guardian]
The Church of the Messiah on Detroit’s lower east side focuses on reducing gun violence by “[providing] people with the things they need.” The church runs more than 200 affordable housing units, offers free medical services and internet access, and teaches community members about entrepreneurship — programs that helped its community earn attention from the CDC for decreasing rates of violence. [Detroit Free Press]
Data Point
91 percent — the increase in the nationwide homicide rate for 15- to 19-year-olds from 2014 to 2021. [ProPublica]
