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Practitioners from the community violence prevention space are stepping into politics.

RAND is closing down its Gun Policy in America project, an initiative that provided what experts called the most sweeping and reliable synthesis of evidence on the effectiveness of various gun laws. The think tank is also sunsetting an initiative that poured funding into gun violence research.

For years, ghost guns have been seen as a criminal justice issue, but scholars are now arguing they’re also a public health concern.

In Georgia, the trial of Colin Gray, the father of a school shooting suspect, has begun. Experts say prosecuting parents for the alleged crimes of their children is unlikely to prevent future attacks, but charges could still be warranted.

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Inspired by the Black Panthers, an armed group calling themselves the Black Lion Party is now patrolling the Philadelphia streets to protect residents from ICE, the police, and crime. It's a flashpoint moment. Mensah Dean dives into it for @thetrace.org

In January, former sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson was given a 20-year prison sentence in Illinois for murdering Sonya Massey in her home. It was a rare punishment — but some hope it might signal a shift in how police who shoot and kill civilians are held accountable. Read more: thetr.ac/w8uc4

In Georgia, the trial of Colin Gray, the father of a school shooting suspect, has begun. Experts say prosecuting parents for the alleged crimes of their children is unlikely to prevent future attacks, but charges could still be warranted.

Did you miss our special virtual event this week? Did you attend, but you’d like to revisit the conversation? Watch the recording of our panel discussion on recent gun violence declines and what it’ll take to sustain the progress.

For years, researchers have been sounding the alarm on the deadly connection between firearms and suicide risk. A new study indicates ghost guns could be worsening the crisis. Read more: thetr.ac/fiovJ

The RAND Corporation is sunsetting two major gun violence research initiatives as funding has shrunk under the Trump administration. Experts lamented the closures as a significant loss for policymakers, advocates, and researchers who have relied on the think tank’s work to prevent shootings.

“Ghost guns are not just a law enforcement problem, they are a public health problem.” A new analysis of California gun recoveries and CDC data found that there’s a link between ghost guns, unserialized weapons assembled from kits, and suicide. It’s the first of its kind.

Ghost gun recoveries are linked to firearm suicide, according to a new study of data from California and the CDC.

Greg Jackson and Amber Goodwin are among the first candidates with platforms centered explicitly on local violence intervention rather than changes to state or federal gun laws. Their campaigns are part of a nascent but notable trend.

⏰ Join The Trace at 1 p.m. ET for a special virtual event on the past three years of plummeting gun violence — and how cities and states can maintain the momentum after federal support for violence prevention disappeared. Register now:

Firearm suicide is a quiet crisis — which could be worsening because of ghost guns, a new study found. The analysis, which used data from the CDC and The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub, found a previously unreported link between gun recoveries and suicide rates.

Story from @fairrionam.bsky.social on research linking ghost gun recoveries and suicide in California. It's a first-of-its-kind finding that drew on data we obtained and published at the Gun Violence Data Hub www.thetrace.org/2026/02/ghos...

Practitioners from the community violence prevention space are stepping into politics.

Tomorrow: Join The Trace for a special virtual event on the past three years of plummeting gun violence — and how cities and states can maintain the momentum after federal support for violence prevention disappeared. Details and registration: thetr.ac/hO8b4

For years, ghost guns have been seen as a criminal justice issue, but scholars are now arguing they’re also a public health concern.

SIG Sauer is now the top pistol maker in the U.S. Its flagship product, the P320, has prompted scores of lawsuits for alleged safety issues. The company has denied there is a problem with the gun. Our new investigation reveals that while business grew, so did claims of shoddy manufacturing.

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Since 2022, the U.S. has seen a historic decline in gun violence. Part of the success can be attributed to research on the crisis — the kind the Trump administration slashed funding from in 2025. The Trace spoke to gun violence scholars about the state of the field today. Read more: thetr.ac/QnkvA

The Trump administration charged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with narco-trafficking and machine gun possession. Legal experts broke down how Maduro can be charged with violating an American gun law when the alleged crime happened outside of U.S. jurisdiction.

Even as the federal government withdrew support, gun violence continued to drop significantly in 2025. Now comes the hard part. Join us February 18 for an event that will leave you with fresh insights about solutions to gun violence. thetr.ac/hO8b4

The gun industry is exempt from all federal consumer-product safety regulation. Unlike hair dryers, mattresses, and even BB guns, firearms do not need to meet minimum safety standards. Read more: thetr.ac/oxs8Z

Gun sales to the general public have been falling for years. In 2025, firearms companies found a lucrative new opportunity: arming the Trump administration’s deportation operation.

The Gun Violence Data Hub, an initiative of The Trace, provides support, resources, and reliable data to newsrooms, researchers, and the public.

SIG Sauer is now the top pistol maker in the U.S. Its flagship product, the P320, has prompted scores of lawsuits for alleged safety issues. The company has denied there is a problem with the gun. Our new investigation reveals that while business grew, so did claims of shoddy manufacturing.

In January, former sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson was given a 20-year prison sentence in Illinois for murdering Sonya Massey in her home. It was a rare punishment — but some hope it might signal a shift in how police who shoot and kill civilians are held accountable. Read more: thetr.ac/w8uc4

Gun violence continued to drop significantly in 2025, but there's more work to do. I'm joining @thetrace.org on Feb. 18 to discuss what's working and what comes next. thetr.ac/hO8b4

On Monday, we published an investigation about the loosely regulated world of gun manufacturing. Champe Barton tracked 30 years of growth at SIG Sauer, a gunmaker that’s risen to the top of the market while battling allegations that its flagship pistol has a life-threatening safety defect.

Police officers who fatally shoot civilians are rarely convicted or sentenced to lengthy prison terms. But the 20-year-sentence handed down in the killing of Sonya Massey stands out and raises questions about whether anything has really changed. My latest for @thetrace.org

Unlike hair dryers, mattresses, and even BB guns, firearms do not need to meet minimum safety standards. Imagine a weapon that explodes in customers’ hands or fires backward at its users. It would violate no federal gun safety regulation. thetr.ac/fACj9

One year into the Trump administration, The Trace spoke with several public health scholars about the research landscape they're facing — and why it's unlike any other before it. Read more: thetr.ac/7ZR7F

The gun industry is exempt from all federal consumer-product safety regulation. Unlike hair dryers, mattresses, and even BB guns, firearms do not need to meet minimum safety standards.

In January, the former Illinois sheriff’s deputy who killed Sonya Massey was sentenced to 20 years in prison on a second-degree murder charge. The punishment is rare — especially in the Midwest, where police often face little to no consequences for fatally shooting unarmed civilians.

Paul Birdsong patrols Philly with a semiautomatic shotgun and two semiautomatic handguns. “Anybody who means harm to the Black man, woman, or child, we mean harm to them,” said Birdsong, who chairs the newly formed Black Lion Party, a group inspired by the Black Panthers. Read more: thetr.ac/BNNtS

SIG Sauer’s P320 has prompted scores of lawsuits for alleged safety issues. Insiders say a push to make more guns led to shoddy manufacturing. thetr.ac/fACj9

U.S.-made guns fuel violence across the globe. But the U.S.’s innovation in community-based and public health-focused violence prevention hasn’t spread the same way. A coalition launched a campaign to change that, asking the World Health Organization to address gun violence.

Armed safety patrols were a hallmark of the Black Panthers, the group founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in the 1960s. The Black Lions intend to pick up where the Panthers left off — but if history is a guide, they’ll have to ready themselves for more pushback than they’ve faced so far.

🧵 In many industries, manufacturers must design and build their products to federally mandated safety standards before sending them into the marketplace. That's not the case for the gun industry. Unlike hair dryers, mattresses, and even BB guns, firearms do not need to meet minimum safety standards.

Even as the federal government withdrew support, gun violence continued to drop significantly in 2025. Now comes the hard part. Join us February 18 for an event that will leave you with fresh insights about solutions to gun violence, and new ideas about building a safer future. thetr.ac/hO8b4

Fascinating look at the Black Lion Party, who are conducting daily armed patrols and ruffling a lot of feathers around Philadelphia www.thetrace.org/2026/02/phil...

The Trace spoke with several public health scholars about the research landscape they're facing under Trump — and why it's unlike any other before it.

"SIG has frequently cut corners in ways that affect quality, potentially jeopardizing the integrity of parts used to build millions of guns and hundreds of thousands of P320s" www.thetrace.org/2026/02/sig-...

An organization calling itself the Black Lion Party says it intends to protect Philadelphians from immigration agents, the police, and criminals.

While many gunmakers have faced allegations of defect-related shootings, SIG Sauer has been the subject of far more than others in the past decade. The company has denied that its flagship pistol can fire without a trigger pull.