Guns and extremism have long been intertwined in America. But as researcher Mark Pitcavage told The Trace’s Jennifer Mascia in 2022, not all extremists view them the same way. Some, like militias, use them as an organizing principle; others, like non-accelerationist white supremacist groups, see firearms more as a means to an end. Across the spectrum, however, many far-right groups use gun rights as a recruiting tactic: “Guns can become a gateway for people to get involved in other forms — and much more extremist forms — of politics,” Emine Fidan Elcioglu, a sociologist who embedded in a border militia group, told The Trace’s Chip Brownlee in February. “Guns can become sort of a way to pull them in and radicalize them on issues beyond just guns.”
Gun rights turned out to be a useful fuel for the American Patriots Three Percent militia, the subject of a blockbuster investigation from ProPublica reporter Joshua Kaplan. According to former leaders, AP3’s membership exploded after former President Barack Obama announced a plan to toughen firearm restrictions during his second term. By 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center found that the militia had an active presence in 48 states.
AP3 has the hallmarks of many right-wing extremist groups, and has in some ways served as an umbrella organization for a variety of far-right ideologies: Members have conducted vigilante operations at the southern border, during Black Lives Matter protests, and outside ballot boxes. Kaplan’s reporting reveals the inner workings of an unusual militia that’s largely flown under the radar even as prosecutors pursue other paramilitary organizations — showing its precipitous rise and recent splintering after a scandal over its increasingly volatile leader. Read more in ProPublica’s investigation.
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What to Know Today
“The Gun Machine,” an eight-episode series produced by WBUR in partnership with The Trace, is the national winner for podcast in the Large Market Radio category of the Edward R. Murrow Awards. Hosted by The Trace’s Alain Stephens, “The Gun Machine” explores America’s 250-year relationship with the gun industry — examining how that relationship underpins our interactions with guns, and our failures in dealing with the fallout of gun violence. Find all the episodes here.
Last week the Food and Drug Administration gave clearance to Traumagel, a medical device applied directly to gunshot wounds that can stanch moderate to severe bleeding in seconds. The new technology takes the form of a 30-milliliter syringe filled with a gel made from algae and fungi. Traumagel, which has already garnered interest from the Department of Defense, will launch later this year. [Fast Company]
Online marketplaces have long struggled to follow their own policies on the sales of firearms, their components, and accessories, sometimes due to retailers disguising their products in listings. A recent case shows that the problem isn’t over: Federal prosecutors say a California resident created and sold 3D-printed guns nationwide through a store on Etsy, which describes itself as “the global marketplace for unique and creative goods.” [Court Watch]
The family of Casey Goodson Jr., who was shot and killed in 2020 by an Ohio sheriff’s deputy, will receive a $7 million settlement from a federal civil rights lawsuit. Goodson, a 23-year-old Black man, was trying to enter his grandmother’s home that December when he was shot by Michael Jason Meade, a white man, who claimed that Goodson had waved a gun at him as they drove by one another. Goodson’s name was later used in rallying cries during mass protests spurred by the murder of George Floyd. Meade awaits a retrial for murder; the first ended in a mistrial. [The Associated Press]
For the time being, California residents can buy as many guns as they want without having to wait 30 days, a federal appeals court ruled last week. In March, a U.S. district judge overturned the state’s longstanding “one-gun-a-month” laws, but they remained in effect while the state appealed the decision. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court later reversed the stay of the district judge’s previous decision, blocking the state from enforcing its limit on gun buying. A federal appeals court will next consider the constitutionality of the California gun restrictions. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]
Bobbi Nichols and scores of other survivors of the shooting in Lewiston, Maine, last fall — in which 18 people were killed and 13 others wounded — have been waiting for this moment: A state commission’s final report on the failures that made the shooting possible is expected to be released today. Investigators have compiled thousands of pages of records from law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Army, and medical facilities, but not all of it has been made public. [The Boston Globe]
In his new book Kent State: An American Tragedy, historian Brian VanDeMark recounts the 1970 incident in which 30 members of the Ohio National Guard shot at unarmed student protesters, killing four and injuring nine. VanDeMark’s telling compiles new material, including interviews with some of the guardsmen, to reconstruct the protests and shooting, which signaled that “the Vietnam War came home and the Sixties came to an end,” he writes. [The Associated Press]
Archive
Dealers Are Already Skirting Biden’s Ghost Gun Rule
Less than a month after the ATF required serial numbers and background checks for “buy-build-shoot” kits, sellers have found a workaround. (September 2022)
