Vermont has been known for a generation as a progressive state — except when it comes to guns. The case of Dylan Russell, a man who bought 15 guns over 18 months, reveals how this easy access turned firearms into a form of currency in the opioid market.

In January, Russell was charged in federal court for his role as a straw purchaser in what prosecutors allege was a drugs-for-guns operation orchestrated by gang members. The authorities believe that none of the guns Russell purchased were for him, but were instead part of an illegal trade that has contributed to a spike in drug-related homicides.

Though gun safety advocates have managed to get a few stricter laws enacted over the past decade, today, no license is required to own a gun in Vermont. Weapons including assault rifles can be carried openly. Federal, state, and local officials say it is impossible to estimate just how many illegally purchased guns are flowing out of the state, where purchasing scrutiny varies from store-to-store.

In a new investigative feature for The Trace, co-published with the independent Burlington-based newspaper Seven Days, journalist Joe Sexton chronicles Russell’s case and the criminal enterprise designed to exploit Vermont’s lax gun laws and deadly rates of opioid addiction.

From The Trace

What to Know Today

One hundred family members of victims and survivors of the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, last year have notified the Department of Defense, the Army, and an Army hospital in New York that they intend to sue if the agencies don’t investigate claims that they failed to prevent the massacre. The agencies have six months to conduct a probe. If they don’t investigate, or if they refute the claims, the Lewiston group will proceed with the lawsuit. [Portland Press Herald] 

The Supreme Court ordered a federal appeals court to reexamine a decision allowing Pennsylvania residents under 21 to carry guns in public during declared states of emergencies — a case effectively about whether 18- to 20-year-olds have a broad constitutional right to carry firearms. The two-sentence reconsideration order cited the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Rahimi. [Bloomberg] 

Criminologist Michael Rocque studies mass shootings and gun violence for his job; in his free time, he enjoys hunting. He’s always been interested in the relationship between the two, but picking that apart isn’t an easy task. In a new essay exploring the link between rising gun violence and declining hunting, Rocque points to an example of the complexity in his home state: Maine law doesn’t allow people to carry a loaded gun in a car for hunting purposes. But for nonhunting purposes? That’s fine. [Slate]

A Las Vegas man was arrested on gun possession charges near a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in California’s Coachella Valley on Saturday. While Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is part of the constitutional sheriff movement, speculated that the man intended to kill the former president, federal authorities said Trump was not in any danger. Bianco also claimed that the man, Vem Miller, was a member of the “sovereign citizens” movement; Miller, who told Fox News that he is “100 percent a Trump supporter,” and vehemently denied both of Bianco’s allegations. [The Guardian/USA TODAY] 

National Rifle Association chief executive Doug Hamlin pleaded no contest to an animal cruelty misdemeanor brought against him and four of his fraternity brothers when he was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan in 1980. According to local media reports from the time, Hamlin, then the president of his Alpha Delta Phi chapter, was involved in a gruesome incident in which the frat house’s cat was tortured and killed, allegedly because the cat was not using its litterbox. Hamlin succeeded Wayne LaPierre as NRA CEO in May. [The Guardian] 

One person was killed and nine others, including three children, were wounded in a mass shooting on Nashville’s historic Jefferson Street on Saturday. It was homecoming week for Tennessee State University, and the street had become a scene of celebration; Fire Department workers were participating in the community event when the gunfire began and were able to quickly help victims. “We are upset. We are angry about that disruption,” a department spokesperson said. “The innocence in this event was taken away and lives were endangered.” [Nashville Tennessean] 

A new report from The Sentencing Project found that youth arrests in Baltimore are down significantly from pre-pandemic levels, contrary to existing narratives about crime involving young people. The report, which examined city police data, also found that, of all arrests, the percentage of youth arrests has dropped from 10 percent in 2016 to 5 percent in 2024. [Baltimore Beat] 

Washington state has relatively strict gun laws, yet kids are still obtaining firearms. In Seattle, where children have been killed in high-profile shootings several times this year, community members are reckoning with why young people decide to carry guns — and how they can help them stop. [Cascade PBS] 

FEMA employees in Rutherford County, North Carolina, part of a Hurricane Helene disaster zone, were ordered to cease operations and relocate on Saturday because of concerns about an “armed militia” threatening government workers amid rampant misinformation. A man was later arrested for making the threats and charged with going armed to the terror of the public; federal aid workers there have resumed operations. [The Washington Post/WBTV] 

Announcement: The Trace’s “Chicago Shooting Survivors, In Their Own Words” project has been selected as a finalist for The Anthem Awards (presented by The Webby Awards) in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category. Help us win — voting is open now through October 31.

Data Point

65 — the average number of youth arrests per month in Baltimore in the first half of 2024. In 2019, that figure was 131. [Baltimore Beat]

Non Sequitur

NASA Spacecraft Is On Its Way to Jupiter’s Europa Moon: “It is expected to reach Jupiter in April 2030 to study Europa, the icy-surfaced moon, which is roughly the size of Earth’s moon and thought to have ‘ingredients for life,’ such as water, NASA says.” [NPR] 

Sunny Sone
Sunny is in charge of our newsletters, leading the growth of existing products and dreaming up new ones. They previously worked as a copy editor at The Intercept and as digital editor for the Texas Observer, and co-published a web-only magazine under the Brick House media cooperative. Sunny has covered topics ranging from the Texas funeral industry to the life of visionary composer Pauline Oliveros. They hold a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.