The Trace

Guns Down America is developing a strategy to disrupt the social and economic dynamics that drive up demand for guns. Executive director Hudson Munoz spoke with The Trace about how the organization’s ideas could be a path forward to push gun violence down even in the Trump era. Read the interview: https://thetr.ac/F85Zg

When someone is shot and killed, the likelihood that their case will be solved changes based on who and where they are.

Nearly 53 percent of murders are unsolved in Peoria, Illinois — where 88 percent of all gunshot homicide victims in the last five years have been Black. The disproportionate effect of killings in this community is made worse, many say, by a lack of communication from State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos.

Once a thriving working class community, Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood has become infamous for drug use and violence. The city’s “Kensington Community Revival” plan is meant to rebuild the community and decrease its violent crime. One year in, some community members are seeing change.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s new budget proposal fully funds the city’s violence prevention programs, which officials say were instrumental in reducing homicides and shootings by more than 35 percent last year. Read more: https://thetr.ac/Tiopz

More than 52,000 former police guns resurfaced in crimes between 2006 and 2022.

An investigation by The Trace, CBS News, and Reveal found that more than 52,000 former police guns resurfaced in crimes between 2006 and 2022. Since then, over a dozen law enforcement agencies have stopped reselling their used guns or reconsidered the practice.

With a Republican-dominated Congress and President Donald Trump back in the White House, many gun reform advocates fear that the country's progress on firearm safety policy will stall out or reverse course. Guns Down America is charting a different path.

Even if a gunshot victim makes it to a hospital, there’s no guarantee that blood will be available — making early intervention even more important.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Florida law — enacted after the 2018 Parkland shooting — banning gun sales to people under 21. The ruling is a major addition to a series of divergent opinions on age restrictions for guns. Experts say the split means the Supreme Court is likely to intervene. Context: https://thetr.ac/V69JK