In late April, hundreds of organizations across the country were notified that the Justice Department was yanking back grant funding they’d been promised during the Biden administration. The cancellation is “highly unusual,” Amy Solomon, former assistant attorney general who oversaw the Office of Justice Programs, told the Associated Press. “You would not expect … grants that have already been granted, obligated or awarded to be pulled back.”
But 100 days into Donald Trump’s second presidential term, things that would have once been deemed highly unusual may feel par for the course. As Trace editor in chief Tali Woodward wrote in an editor’s note this week: “Every day, it seems, President Donald Trump makes a move that threatens to destabilize the way that government and policy have functioned in the United States for decades.”
The situation in Philadelphia is instructive. The Trace’s Mensah M. Dean reported this week that April cuts reached several organizations on the front lines of the city’s violence prevention work, which officials have credited with helping drive homicides and shootings down from historic highs during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Mayor Cherelle Parker in March proposed a budget that would fully fund Philadelphia’s violence prevention programs, the city’s finance director said that, given “the large amount of grants that we get, any reduction could have a really big impact on our budget.” Meanwhile, organizers were already looking for alternative revenue sources and initiating cost-cutting measures.
Beyond the canceled Justice Department grants, the Trump administration is drastically changing how the United States handles gun violence in other ways, too. Woodward notes that the president has issued orders to repeal gun regulations and curtail policing of bad firearms dealers, and scrapped the Biden-era White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
“It’s clear our country is changing,” Woodward writes. But as The Trace tracks and makes sense of the White House’s actions, our newsroom is spending “at least as much time, in our planning meetings and internal discussions, thinking about how The Trace will meet this moment in a less reactive way” — an approach we’ve always worked to maintain. You can read more about how The Trace is thinking about our beat in Woodward’s editor’s note.
From The Trace
Making Sense of Gun Violence in 2025: One hundred days into the second Trump term, the United States is in political upheaval. Here’s how The Trace is meeting the moment.
Trump’s Budget Cuts Reach the Front Lines of Philly’s Fight to Reduce Shootings: Despite their role in slowing bloodshed, several local organizations are losing federal funding.
The Gun Industry Makes Billions. But How Many Exactly?: It’s hard to estimate since it’s made up of dozens of public and private companies. In this edition of Ask The Trace, we attempt an answer.
Young Philadelphians on What It Takes to Curb Shootings: The number of Philly children and teens charged with homicide has been rising. Four Gen Zers speak to the problem.
Cleveland Activists Say Gun Violence Prevention Efforts Are Disjointed — But There’s a Fix: Despite an overall drop in shootings, local leaders are asking the city to centralize resources and strengthen its strategy in a handful of overburdened neighborhoods.
Gun Violence Linked to Surprising Side Effect: Poor Dental Health: A new study shows the relationship between gun violence and oral care, and expands our understanding of how people respond to shootings.
What We’re Reading
Gun Owners Group Calls for Federal Inquiry Into Firearms Industry’s Secret Sharing of Customer Data: Gun Owners for Safety called the secret program that spanned nearly two decades “underhanded.” “Gun owners’ privacy is not a partisan or ideological issue,” a member of the group wrote. [ProPublica]
Trump DOJ to SCOTUS: Leave Federal Felony Gun Ban Alone: Throughout the month of April, the Justice Department urged the Supreme Court not to grant review of the constitutionality of the lifetime gun ban for people with felony convictions. [The Reload]
Supreme Court asks: Can FBI be held liable for raiding the wrong house?: FBI agents handcuffed Hilliard Toi Cliatt and pointed a gun at him and Curtrina Martin while her young son cowered in a bedroom. It was the wrong house. [The Washington Post]
Trump’s Anti-DEI Push Raises Concerns Among Black Officers in Local Police Departments: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professionals and officers of color fear that a Trump-led backlash will erase the diversity gains made after the George Floyd protests. [The Marshall Project]
Runaway Tren: How a Colorado slumlord’s PR operation on a gunfight in an apartment complex turned into a brand-new “forever war” on Venezuela. [The American Prospect]
In Memoriam
Liam Spahnle-Bailey, 13, was a skateboard kid — and he worked hard to become skilled in the sport, his 19-year-old brother, Gordon Mott-Bailey, told KPTV, often sending Gordon videos of himself practicing skate tricks. “He wanted someone to be proud of him,” said Gordon, who shared a room with Liam growing up. “I would always be like, ‘Good job, I’m so proud of you. Keep it up.” Liam, a middle schooler, was killed on Sunday after he was struck by a stray bullet while staying at his dad’s apartment in Gresham, Oregon. He also enjoyed snowboarding; his father said they’d planned on driving out to Mt. Hood for an outing the day Liam was killed. Loved ones remember him as a loving, funny, and genuine child who could put a smile on anyone’s face, per a GoFundMe organized for his family. “At only 13 years old,” the page said, “Liam has touched many people’s lives.”
Spotlight on Solutions
Gun violence prevention and intervention workers often operate without stable funding. In Kalamazoo, Michigan, philanthropic organizations, advocacy groups, and local police are backing the creation of a new system to help people on the front lines find long-term sustainability. More on the effort from NowKalamazoo.
Pull Quote
“I am Kaden because his spirit now lives within me. I am Kaden because I am 10 years old, too; I get good grades, too. Will I have a chance to survive? Will my life be cut short, too? Will the adults in this room make sure that I have a chance to grow?”
— Lorenzo Roberson, 10, addressing city leaders in Cleveland about how he and other kids feel about safety in their neighborhoods and remembering the loss of his best friend, via The Trace
