Investigation

The Industry

Gun companies create and sell products that lead to tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. every year. What legal and moral obligations do they have to prevent their wares from being used to kill or maim?

The Business of Guns

Shot by a Civilian Wielding a Police Gun

Our investigation found that more than 52,000 police guns have been involved in crimes since 2006. Many of those weapons were resold by law enforcement agencies sworn to protect the public.
Chris Hacker, Champe Barton, Alain Stephens, Stephen Stock, Amy Corral, and Nicole Vap

Full Coverage

Lead Reporters

  • Champe Barton

    Reporter

    Champe Barton is a reporter at The Trace covering the gun industry. His work has focused on the role of gun distribution in America’s gun violence epidemic, including lax enforcement of federal firearms laws by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, failure by California police departments to properly trace crime guns, and efforts by gun manufacturers to monitor how the guns they produce slip into the criminal black market. His work has appeared in USA TODAY, Rolling Stone, Slate, The Guardian, FiveThirtyEight, and The Daily Beast, among other publications.