My latest for @thetrace.org challenges a common narrative. That gun violence “starts in the home”. Adlone Morris was a Detroit cop and a devoted father. Still, his sons got caught up in the streets he patrolled. Their story highlights the complexities of gun violence that are often ignored [1]

Here's a nice @tedalcorn.bsky.social piece on the rise in folks aspiring to be legal gun toters in NYC for @thetrace.org. Can confirm his observation that in the past, "permits were largely held by business leaders, politicians, and celebrities." www.thetrace.org/2025/11/new-...

The group that represents the interests of the gun industry has won accolades for trying to raise awareness about suicide, the leading cause of gun death. But it uses deceptive numbers to promote its efforts.

A New JAMA Report led by veteran gun violence prevention researchers explores the ways to significantly reduce gun violence in the next 15 years: www.thetrace.org/2025/11/how-...

Maine voters yesterday overwhelmingly approved a "red flag" measure that allows courts to temporarily take weapons from those found to be a danger to themselves or others. Some background here from a 2023 @thetrace.org story: www.thetrace.org/2023/10/main...

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two Second Amendment cases this year, the most in its history. @bychipbrownlee.com put together this explainer about the cases and their potential implications.

When you're a reporter and you betray a source, you've blown up your credibility — your word means nothing. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Just the latest impact from the great work that @champebarton.bsky.social has done for @thetrace.org on a major gunmaker and its problem pistol. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/sig-...

It's projects like this that make me proud to be part of @thetrace.org. I'm from Brownsville, and I don't think I've ever seen it captured this way in any other news outlet.

Our Atlas of American Gun Violence is revamped, giving users new ways of exploring the data. Powerful @thetrace.org work. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/anno...

Today, we're debuting a new feature on @thetrace.org called 92 Days in Gun Violence. It's a quarterly update. The big finding thru Q3 is that have been fewer shooting deaths in 2025 than any year in a decade. Plus more on gun sales, our work, and recent research: www.thetrace.org/2025/10/shoo...

Gun dealers talk to @champebarton.bsky.social about the drop in demand, what drives sales, and the state of the industry. Some dealers are seeing folks who bought during the pandemic sales surge now seeking to sell their guns. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/gun-...

Revealing look by @mikespies.bsky.social at a troubled and now abandoned partnership between the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the gun industry's trade group. Seems it had some success as a PR exercise at least. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/gun-...

Claim: President Trump says Portland is "war-ravaged" and "on fire." Fact-check: Gun violence in Portland has been plummeting since the pandemic — and shootings in the neighborhood around the ICE facility are rare

Given yesterday's call to use American cities as military training grounds, sharing this debunking of Trump's crime claims and related @thetrace.org coverage put together by my colleague @jenmascia.bsky.social www.thetrace.org/2025/09/trum...

Make a gift to help The Trace inform more people about an issue that affects all of us: thetrace.fundjournalism.org?campaign=701...

Sobering story from @themainemonitor.org on the high rates of gun suicides among older Mainers. They're the first newsroom to use a new Gun Violence Data Hub dataset to localize a story on this subject. themainemonitor.org/maine-suicid...

Trump talks about crime a lot. And much of what he says is false. @jenmascia.bsky.social breaks it down here www.thetrace.org/2025/09/trum...

NEWS: In 2020, the ATF added nonbinary as a sex choice on the federal background check form for gun sales. Now, the agency says the form is being modified to comply with Trump's order declaring male and female immutable categories. www.thetrace.org/2025/09/gun-...

Suicide among older men, particularly white men, is rising. Reporter amendelson.bsky.social goes deep and delivers illuminating details, like a gun store owner catching heat for trying to boost suicide awareness. Check it out: www.thetrace.org/2025/09/gun-...

Rita Oceguera keeps a spotlight on disinfo for @thetrace.org www.thetrace.org/2025/09/chic...

Race and geography divide gun deaths in Washtenaw County, MI, reflecting a national pattern. More fine work by @josiahbates.bsky.social in @thetrace.org www.thetrace.org/2025/09/wash...

This sweeping overview by @radleybalko.bsky.social on the Trump administration's expansion of federal power is worth your time. Nothing but facts and context in here

In just two weeks, more than 20 U.S. colleges received false active shooter reports, triggering lockdowns and heavy police responses. These swatting incidents may be fake, but the fear and trauma they create are real. Strong reporting from @jenmascia.bsky.social

Most of the states backing Trump’s crime crackdown have areas with higher gun homicide rates than the nation’s capital, a Trace analysis shows. At least 17 Mississippi counties endured more gun homicides per capita than the nation’s capital in 2024. Read: www.thetrace.org/2025/08/nati...

In a Q&A with a law and policing expert, @jenmascia.bsky.social explores limits to further crackdowns in Democratic cities that have opposed Trump. www.thetrace.org/2025/08/trum...

"The ongoing dispute exposed a foundational fracture in the city’s community violence intervention efforts. … That structural shift, according to several local activists, marked the beginning of a more top-down, enforcement-driven approach."

March for Our Lives, an important youth mobilizer, has hit hard times. Quite hard. Details in my latest story: www.thetrace.org/2025/08/marc...

Trump claimed the nation’s capital has been “taken over by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.” But crime in D.C. and other cities he's targeted is not out of control — in fact, it’s decreasing. Below, we fact-check his claims.

After capitalizing on a favorable 2022 Supreme Court ruling, gun rights groups are filing far fewer new legal challenges to firearms restrictions in federal court. But they have lots of irons in the fire at the federal appellate level. www.thetrace.org/2025/06/gun-...

If you're a current or former federal employee who works on gun violence prevention, data collection, or research, I would love to hear from you. Protonmail: [email protected] Signal: byChipBrownlee.01 Keybase: keybase.io/chip_brownlee

Here's an update to some deep digging published with @motherjones.com over the summer. Millions more in anonymous cash was spent on the operation in 2023. www.thetrace.org/2025/01/gun-...

Stand up for truth and safety. Your gift to The Trace will ensure that gun violence is never ignored. Donate today to have your impact doubled during our NewsMatch campaign: https://thetrace.fundjournalism.org/?campaign=701Pd00000JvJ7tIAF

A jury has reached a verdict in the NY AG's lawsuit against the NRA and its former CEO Wayne LaPierre. More to come.

The NY AG's case against the NRA is now with the jury.

NEW: Details have been scarce since the IRS claimed during the NRA’s failed 2021 bankruptcy that the gun group owed it money — following an October 2020 report that the agency was investigating CEO Wayne LaPierre. A previously unreported document may provide clues, @vansant.bsky.social writes.

Wayne LaPierre's attorney wants to limit his client's time testifying on days LaPierre is fatigued. In addition to the already disclosed Lyme, a doctor's note the attorney provided cites "cognitive decline ... in a setting of a family history of Alzheimer's ... and significant cerebral volume loss"

In June 2009, the NRA’s treasurer enlisted the group’s longtime PR firm to obfuscate executives’ extravagant spending. We obtained a secret audio recording of that meeting. In partnership with @propublica.bsky.social:

Our staff writer @vansant.bsky.social previewed the NRA's corruption trial and its stakes below — and will continue to follow the case in the coming weeks. For regular updates: TheTrace.org/Newsletters

Chronic Lyme disease is the condition behind Wayne LaPierre's decision to resign, per an NRA filing in the NY AG's case, which goes to trial today. Also, the group is arguing that his exodus undercuts claims that NRA illegality is "continuing or imminently likely to recur."

More NRA trial news: The NY AG and Josh Powell, a defendant and former aid to Wayne LaPierre, have settled. Powell admits to breaching his fiduciary duty to the NRA and must make $100K restitution in exchange for truthful testimony at trial and any further related legal actions.

My first story post on here for @thetrace.org: The NRA's Wayne LaPierre resigns. www.thetrace.org/2024/01/wayn...