What to Know Today
NEW from The Trace: They lost their kids at Sandy Hook 10 years ago. Their fight is for life. A decade after the massacre at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school, the victims’ families are at the forefront of a new political force in America. Parents who have experienced unimaginable loss are channeling their grief into pursuing legislative change and promoting preventative measures in schools. They’ve garnered some wins, but they still face a harrowing reality, as mass shootings have become more frequent and grown deadlier. Mark Keierleber has the story, published in partnership with The 74.
Colleges are investing in AI to prevent gun violence. Most of what it finds is irrelevant. The company Social Sentinel advertised its technology as an innovative way to identify threats of shootings and suicides posted on social media. At least 38 colleges have bought in since 2015. But a Dallas Morning News analysis of 4,200 posts flagged by the service found it to be largely ineffective.
Law enforcement officers, military veterans, and civilians sue Sig Sauer over allegedly defective pistol. In a New Hampshire district court Thursday morning, 20 plaintiffs jointly filed a lawsuit over injuries suffered from Sig Sauer’s P320 pistol, which they say is capable of firing without pulling the trigger. Sixteen of the plaintiffs allege they were injured when their guns discharged unexpectedly, sending bullets through their hips, thighs, knees, and ankles. The shootings are the latest in more than five years of controversy surrounding the P320, which underwent a voluntary recall in 2017 after reports that the gun could fire when dropped. — Champe Barton
Report: California’s gun data leak was an accident. The investigation, conducted by an outside law firm, concluded that state Justice Department officials didn’t follow their own policies or know how to operate their own website, CalMatters reports. The breach in June allowed anyone to access personal information — including names, addresses, and birthdays — for roughly 192,000 concealed carry applicants.
Philly teens don’t think a curfew will curb violence. The City Council is slated to change its curfew for 16- and 17-year-olds from midnight to 10 p.m., making permanent a change piloted in July. Young Philadelphians told Billy Penn that they haven’t seen the curfew being enforced, and questioned whether it would be effective: “Kids could be out before 10 p.m. and also do violence,” a high schooler said. Dreaming of a safer city: After Mayor Lori Lightfoot expanded Chicago’s curfew for minors earlier this year, in a similar effort to stem gun violence, local teens told The Trace’s Justin Agrelo about the policy changes that would actually make them feel safer.
ICYMI From The Trace
In the spring of 2020, Rochester, New York, was poised for genuine police reform. Then came a 911 call for a Black man in crisis.
John Lott, the right’s favorite gun researcher, received a Montana house from a donor to his nonprofit. Who was he?
Data Point
~2,734 — the number of times that personal information contained in the California firearms dashboard leak was downloaded. [Associated Press]
