Brian Freskos

Try As He Might, Trump Can’t Take Credit for the Nation’s Murder Drop The president made dubious claims about the murder rate and immigrants during his speech.

Homicides were already on the downswing and nearing record lows when Trump returned to office. Gun homicides spiked in 2020 during Trump’s first term before beginning a gradual and consistent decline during the Biden years.

Even a Decade of Unintentional Shootings Could Not Slow America’s Top Pistol Maker 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.

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.

Even a Decade of Unintentional Shootings Could Not Slow America’s Top Pistol Maker 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.

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. Investigation with @bloomberg.com:

The Oxford High Shooter Is Behind Bars. Families Still Want to Know How He Went Undetected Hana St. Juliana was one of four students killed by a classmate. Four years later, her father — and other victims’ families — are waiting for a state review.

More than four years after the Oxford school shooting, families are still waiting for a promised state investigation.

For @thetrace.org I reported on what officials said would happen, what didn't happen, and why families say the delay matters

Gun Sellers Have Made Millions From Trump’s Deployment of Immigration Agents Last year, the Department of Homeland Security spent a record sum on guns and ammunition, a Trace analysis found.

Gun companies made millions as immigration agents carried out mass federal raids in major cities — and shot people trying to protest or document the agents’ activities.

The Gun Lobby Is Divided in Its Response to the Alex Pretti Shooting Some National Rifle Association members were not happy with the gun group’s failure to back Pretti’s right to carry.

My colleagues @almabeauvais.bsky.social and @jenmascia.bsky.social rounded up how gun groups reacted to the Alex Pretti shooting

#1 in Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension v. Noem (D. Minnesota, 0:26-cv-00628) – CourtListener.com COMPLAINT against All Defendants (filing fee $ 405, receipt number AMNDC-12575332) filed by Hennepin County Attorney's Office, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Filer requests summons issued....

BREAKING: MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension & Hennepin DA file fed lawsuit dmeanding immediate access to federal evidence in DHS agent's deadly shooting of observer during immigration enforcement operation Sat. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

Trump Has Slashed Federal Funding for Gun Violence Prevention. But How Much Exactly? For a new analysis, The Trace catalogued how many grants were canceled or redirected during Trump’s first year in office.

The Trace's @bychipbrownlee.com is compiling a list of terminated federal funding related to public safety, violence prevention, and gun violence and violence prevention research. Check out his data here:

Maduro Has Been Charged With Machine Gun Possession. Here’s Why Prosecutors allege that the deposed Venezuelan president broke an American gun law despite not having stepped foot on U.S. soil in decades.

The extraterritorial charges that Maduro faces aren't unprecedented in the Southern District of New York, which often serves as a venue for federal cases with international elements, including terrorism, organized crime, and financial crimes.

Shootings plunging, gun sales dipping, data on ICE raid uses of force — we're tracking all this and more in my quarterly @thetrace.org data roundup, 92 Days In Gun Violence
www.thetrace.org/2026/01/shoo...

Immigration Agents Are Shooting People. Is It Legal? A law professor explains whether the agent who fatally shot Renee Good could face prosecution.

"Deadly force is also only allowed when no reasonable alternative exists. In the Good case, there seemed to be reasonable alternatives, like stepping out of the car’s path."

How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids? The Trace is tracking gun incidents connected to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Know of one? Please be in touch.

We're tracking incidents in which federal immigration agents shoot someone or hold them at gunpoint:

ICE agents in Minneapolis shot and killed a motorist, claiming she rammed her car into them. Video showed her backing up and driving away from the agents before they fired. Local officials rejected Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s assertion that the agents fired in self-defense. “The presence of federal immigration enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey subsequently posted on X.

The Trace has identified 14 shootings by federal immigration agents as of January 7.

They include the shootings of three people observing or documenting ICE raids.

www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...

Mamdani Plans to Rewrite New York City’s Public Safety Playbook The new mayor has promised to focus on prevention. Here’s what experts think of his ideas.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani inherited a city with its lowest rate of gun violence on record. But rather than riding that wave, he is preparing to overhaul the machinery of public safety itself, shifting the focus from police enforcement to a “whole-of-government” prevention model.

ChatGPT Might Have a School Shooting Problem A researcher was able to coax AI to provide pointers for a hypothetical "Nerf ambush" that could easily be translated into instructions for a school mass shooting.

ChatGPT described how one or two students could funnel classmates into vulnerable positions, maximize fear and confusion, and avoid detection. It offered mapping and weapon concealment strategies.

It even produced a manifesto.

5 Things We Learned About Shootings at High School Sports Events Most took place at football games — and in the South.

A Trace analysis found that over the past decade, 281 people have been shot at high school sporting events

How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids? The Trace is tracking gun incidents connected to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Know of one? Please be in touch.

We are tracking incidents in which federal immigration agents shoot someone or hold them at gunpoint. Check out our dataset:

🚨 new dataset alert 🚨

The Gun Violence Data Hub now features data on 78k active federal firearms licensees, which we've geocoded.

Have also just added monthly data on the number of FFLs by type in each state. Check it out!
datahub.thetrace.org/dataset/fede...

What Can We Learn From Austria's Response to a Single School Shooting? Lawmakers passed swift, sweeping gun reform after the mass shooting at a school in Graz. Here's how they did it.

In the U.S., school shootings are tragically routine, yet major gun reforms remain elusive.

Austria endured its first school mass shooting this summer — and quickly enacted sweeping federal changes. The response raises questions about how countries reckon with violence.

What Would 'Concealed Carry Reciprocity' Mean for States With Tighter Gun Laws? Congress may soon vote on a bill that would require states to honor laws loosened elsewhere. We break down what that means.

29 states require no license to carry concealed guns in public. But what happens when someone from one of those states wants to carry their gun in a state that does require a permit? @bychipbrownlee.com breaks it down:

Trump Plans to Take Money From Violence Prevention to Fund His Immigration Crackdown Grants meant to help violence prevention are being steered to local law enforcement — and recipients must cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Trump’s DOJ is diverting money meant for community violence prevention to law enforcement and immigration crackdowns. Important reporting by @bychipbrownlee.com for @thetrace.org

Virginia’s Election of a Democratic Governor Primes the State for Gun Reform Democratic lawmakers are confident that Abigail Spanberger will resurrect bills vetoed by her Republican predecessor.

Virginia's outgoing GOP governor has vetoed 42 gun reform bills during his tenure, including a ban on abusive dating partners having guns, @jenmascia.bsky.social reports

He Patrolled the Neighborhoods Where His Sons Were Drawn into Violence Despite Adlone Morris's best attempts, he couldn't keep his sons from joining a gang as teenagers. Now they all work to make Detroit safer.

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]

New Yorkers Fill Gun Classes as Applications for Concealed Carry Permits Surge With few rules on how the courses are taught, gun aficionados have stepped in to run them.

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-...

New Yorkers Fill Gun Classes as Applications for Concealed Carry Permits Surge With few rules on how the courses are taught, gun aficionados have stepped in to run them.

The number of applications for permits to carry concealed guns in New York City has increased nearly tenfold in the past three years.

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.

What Have Trump’s Troops Done for Crime in D.C.? The president has taken credit for reducing crime in the capital, but a new analysis by The Trace shows that a decline was already underway.

Modeling from The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub shows the steep downward trend in D.C. shootings predates Trump’s policing takeover in the capital by several months, suggesting his actions are not responsible.

The Supreme Court Is More Interested in Second Amendment Cases Than Ever Before The justices will consider two significant challenges this term. Here’s how they might affect gun laws.

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.

Minnesota’s Gun Politics Mirror the Nation’s Divide State legislators established a gun violence working group after a high-profile school shooting. A debate over a basic safety measure has left them at a standstill.

The Minnesota State Senate established a Gun Violence Prevention Working Group to find bipartisan solutions to address gun violence after the Annunciation school shooting. Here's how it's been going:

Where Are People Being Shot in America? The Trace’s Atlas of American Gun Violence has been updated to allow you to search by address, county, congressional district, type of shooting — and to download maps.

We recently launched an update of our Gun Violence Atlas that includes several new features. Users can now view trends for specific types of gun violence — like mass shootings and domestic violence — and aggregate data on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis, among other things.