Friday Finds
Our weekly roundup of the latest gun violence prevention news
On Fridays we highlight articles and videos from the gun violence prevention realm that might’ve been missed during your busy week.
Trump Has Slashed Federal Funding for Gun Violence Prevention. But How Much Exactly?
“The move illustrates a paradox from the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term: An administration that campaigned on fighting crime and improving public safety has terminated, redirected, or delayed more than $1 billion in federal grants related to gun violence, public safety, mental health, and other efforts to save lives…. The cuts have left people working on violence prevention in limbo, raising questions about whether the administration’s actions will ultimately reverse the historic decreases in gun violence and crime the nation has experienced since 2023.”
Hospital Programs for Violence Victims Can Prevent Future Harm, Boston University Study Finds
“The findings offer hope for similar programs nationwide and may encourage cities to target investment in them to reduce gun violence….”
Rethinking Security Among the Healthcare Workforce Crisis
“As hospitals adapt to a landscape marked by staffing shortages, financial pressure and escalating safety concerns, security can no longer operate as an afterthought or a cost center. It must be a strategic enabler that protects the workforce, which in turn protects everyone else.”
Research Suggests Nationwide Racial Bias in Media Reporting on Gun Violence
“This study… is thought to be the first to systematically document bias on gun-violence reporting in a large-scale, nationally representative sample of news media coverage, researchers said
Minneapolis ICE Shootings Fallout:
VIDEO: Witness videos raise questions about shooting that killed Alex Pretti
“At least five different witness videos are raising questions about the shooting death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti involving federal officers on Saturday, with the videos appearing to show a different sequence of events than what was described by Trump administration officials.”
VIDEO: “Those rights don’t count”: Bovino says Pretti forfeited 2nd Amendment rights in fatal shooting
“The Department of Homeland Security immediately painted Pretti as a threat, saying that officers feared for their lives because Pretti was legally carrying a firearm. Multiple videos of the shooting contradicted the official line that Pretti was threatening agents.”
Trump administration goes after Second Amendment rights in justifying Minneapolis shooting
“A number of pro-gun rights Republicans pushed back on the administration’s argument that Alex Pretti was dangerous because he had a gun. Pretti was legally licensed to carry one.”
Major Gun Rights Group Condemns Trump Official’s Claim Shooting Was ‘Legally Justified’
“Pretti’s family said he had a lawful permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota, which ICE agents were seen on video removing from his person when tackling Pretti to the ground. They then shot Pretti nine times ‘in self-defense,’ according to the Department of Homeland Security.”
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.”
VIDEO: Shooting of Alex Pretti raises questions about 2nd Amendment
“ABC News contributors Robert Boyce and James Sample weigh in on the signals President Donald Trump is giving about his stance on the Second Amendment during protests.”
Is It Legal to Protest While Armed? First Amendment Analysis
“Two of America’s strongest constitutional protections are enshrined in neighboring amendments: the five freedoms of the First Amendment and the Second Amendment right to bear arms. But can the government limit someone’s First Amendment freedoms specifically because they’re lawfully carrying a firearm?”
Are guns barred at protests, as Kash Patel said? In most states, no
“We asked 13 legal experts about Patel’s statement. They agreed that Patel was wrong about the Minnesota law, although they cautioned that some states do ban guns at protests.”
SAFE Statement Regarding the Violence in Minneapolis
“As a matter of safety, firearms should only be carried in settings where they can be properly employed by an individual in a healthy state of mind. Neither civilians nor government agents should carry weapons when they are intoxicated, when they are experiencing a mental health crisis, or during emotionally charged moments that may make them lose control. “
OPINION: Good Guy With a Gun
“The simple act of gun ownership makes one more likely to die from gun violence, not less. As the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Gun Violence Solutions notes: ‘Overwhelming evidence shows that firearm ownership and access is associated with increased suicide, homicide, unintentional firearm deaths, and injuries.’”
Border patrol commander to leave Minneapolis after Alex Pretti shooting
“Gregory Bovino, the border patrol commander who has become the public face of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, is being swapped out for the border czar, Tom Homan, as the Trump administration reshuffles the leadership of its immigration enforcement operation in the city and scales back its federal presence there after a second fatal shooting by officers.”
‘It’s our turn’: gun-safety advocates are riding a ‘seismic’ wave to U.S. legislatures
“Their ascent is part of a nearly decade-long shift, from gun violence prevention being a third-rail issue in politics that was rarely spoken about on campaign trails, to one that candidates, most of them Democrats, are now running — and winning — on.”
Patrick Wilson gets emotional speaking on gun violence at Sundance premiere: ‘We are not doing enough’
“Patrick Wilson spoke passionately about the gun violence epidemic in the United States at the premiere of his latest film, Run Amok. In the film, which was shown for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Wilson plays a high school teacher grappling with the lasting impact of a school shooting 10 years earlier.”
— What to Know Before Buying a Gun —
Our desperate times have created concerned reactions, so here’s a factsheet to consider if you’re pondering gun ownership.
