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Will Van Sant

@vansant.bsky.social
89 followers 25 following 30 posts

Email: wvansant@proton.me — Signal: WillVS.77

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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Chip Brownlee @bychipbrownlee.com · 20/11/2025
The Trump administration has reoriented a grant initiative originally meant to fund community-based violence prevention, using it instead to bolster local law enforcement and the president’s immigration crackdown.
thetrace.org
Trump Plans to Take Money From Violence Prevention to Fund His Immigration Crackdown
Grants meant to help violence prevention are being steered to local law enforcement — and recipients must cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Solidarity in action. www.thetrace.org/2025/11/ice-...
thetrace.org
They've Protected Residents From Gunfire. Now, They're Defending Neighbors Against ICE.
As immigration raids spread fear in Chicago, violence intervention groups are broadening their mission.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
KFF Health News @kffhealthnews.org · 19/11/2025
KFF Health News and @thetrace.org are talking to people who’ve been wounded or families of those killed by gun violence to better understand how insurance affects such medical care. Click below to reach our reporting team ⤵️ kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
Help Us Investigate Medical Care for Gunshot Wounds - KFF Health News
We’d like to talk to people who’ve been wounded or families of those killed by gun violence to better understand how insurance affects such medical care.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Jeremy Schulman @jeremyschulman.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Having fully ceded their war powers, taxing powers, spending powers, and general lawmaking powers to the president, the only thing left for members of Congress to do all day is try to censure each other
axios.com
Nancy Mace to force vote on ousting fellow GOP Rep. Cory Mills from committees
Republicans have fumed as Democrats have repeatedly withdrawn their censure measures against the embattled Floridian.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
The DOJ's Civil Rights Division, what's left of it anyway, is taking enforcement cues from Trump's executive orders and backing gun rights interests as never before. My latest published in partnership with @motherjones.com www.thetrace.org/2025/11/doj-...
thetrace.org
At the Justice Department, Civil Rights Now Means Gun Rights
The Civil Rights Division was created to protect the disempowered. Under Trump, it's working to dismantle gun restrictions.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Here's a nice @tedalcorn.bsky.social piece on the rise in folks aspiring to be legal gun toters in NYC for @thetrace.org. Can confirm his observation that in the past, "permits were largely held by business leaders, politicians, and celebrities." www.thetrace.org/2025/11/new-...
thetrace.org
New Yorkers Fill Gun Classes as Applications for Concealed Carry Permits Surge
With few rules on how the courses are taught, gun aficionados have stepped in to run them.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
mikespies.bsky.social @mikespies.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
The group that represents the interests of the gun industry has won accolades for trying to raise awareness about suicide, the leading cause of gun death. But it uses deceptive numbers to promote its efforts.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Fairriona Magee @fairrionam.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
A New JAMA Report led by veteran gun violence prevention researchers explores the ways to significantly reduce gun violence in the next 15 years: www.thetrace.org/2025/11/how-...
thetrace.org
A Blueprint for Reducing Gun Violence by 2040, According to Experts
The JAMA Summit on Firearm Violence convened thought leaders from a wide array of disciplines to discuss ideas for preventing shooting deaths and injuries.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Maine voters yesterday overwhelmingly approved a "red flag" measure that allows courts to temporarily take weapons from those found to be a danger to themselves or others. Some background here from a 2023 @thetrace.org story: www.thetrace.org/2023/10/main...
thetrace.org
Will Maine's Permissive Gun Laws Change After the Lewiston Shooting?
The state has high rates of gun ownership, yet mass shootings were virtually unheard of — until now.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Brian Freskos @brianfreskos.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two Second Amendment cases this year, the most in its history. @bychipbrownlee.com put together this explainer about the cases and their potential implications.
thetrace.org
The Supreme Court Is More Interested in Second Amendment Cases Than Ever Before
The justices will consider two significant challenges this term. Here’s how they might affect gun laws.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
When you're a reporter and you betray a source, you've blown up your credibility — your word means nothing. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
washingtonpost.com
Rubio promised to betray U.S. informants to get Trump’s El Salvador prison deal
To secure U.S. access to President Nayib Bukele’s notorious CECOT prison, Rubio agreed to turn over several MS-13 leaders central to a long-running Justice Department investigation.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Just the latest impact from the great work that @champebarton.bsky.social has done for @thetrace.org on a major gunmaker and its problem pistol. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/sig-...
thetrace.org
Trace Investigation Prompts New Jersey to Sue Gunmaker Over Allegedly Defective Pistols
New Jersey's attorney general is demanding that SIG Sauer recall its P320 pistol after the gun was involved in several unintentional shootings in the state.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Our Atlas of American Gun Violence is revamped, giving users new ways of exploring the data. Powerful @thetrace.org work. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/anno...
thetrace.org
Where Are People Being Shot in America?
The Trace’s Atlas of American Gun Violence has been updated to allow you to search by address, county, congressional district, type of shooting — and to download maps.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Aaron Mendelson @amendelson.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Today, we're debuting a new feature on @thetrace.org called 92 Days in Gun Violence. It's a quarterly update. The big finding thru Q3 is that have been fewer shooting deaths in 2025 than any year in a decade. Plus more on gun sales, our work, and recent research: www.thetrace.org/2025/10/shoo...
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Gun dealers talk to @champebarton.bsky.social about the drop in demand, what drives sales, and the state of the industry. Some dealers are seeing folks who bought during the pandemic sales surge now seeking to sell their guns. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/gun-...
thetrace.org
Gun Stores Are Struggling Under Trump
Dealers say the president’s gun-friendly policies have actually hurt their sales. “People have a tendency to want what they feel is under threat," one said.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Revealing look by @mikespies.bsky.social at a troubled and now abandoned partnership between the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the gun industry's trade group. Seems it had some success as a PR exercise at least. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/gun-...
thetrace.org
A Program Backed by the Gun Industry Failed to Reduce Suicide — and Was Secretly Shut Down Early
The country’s best-known suicide prevention group teamed up with the gun industry. The effort was good for public relations and raising money, but it never met its goal, and internal records show why.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Jennifer Mascia @jenmascia.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Claim: President Trump says Portland is "war-ravaged" and "on fire." Fact-check: Gun violence in Portland has been plummeting since the pandemic — and shootings in the neighborhood around the ICE facility are rare
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Given yesterday's call to use American cities as military training grounds, sharing this debunking of Trump's crime claims and related @thetrace.org coverage put together by my colleague @jenmascia.bsky.social www.thetrace.org/2025/09/trum...
thetrace.org
Trump’s Big Crime Lies
As the president prepares to send federal troops into Memphis and Chicago, we debunk a few of his most mendacious talking points.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
The Trace @thetrace.org · 30/09/2025
Make a gift to help The Trace inform more people about an issue that affects all of us: thetrace.fundjournalism.org?campaign=701...
Everyone deserves the truth about gun violence. The Trace's reporting has empowered readers for the past decade. Your support will enable us to reach new audiences and spark change. Donate now
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Aaron Mendelson @amendelson.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Sobering story from @themainemonitor.org on the high rates of gun suicides among older Mainers. They're the first newsroom to use a new Gun Violence Data Hub dataset to localize a story on this subject. themainemonitor.org/maine-suicid...
themainemonitor.org
How Maine's rates of gun suicide compare to national trends
More older Mainers died by gun suicide than in car crashes over a 15-year period, data that mirrors a troubling trend across the country.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Tali Woodward @taliwoodward.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Trump talks about crime a lot. And much of what he says is false. @jenmascia.bsky.social breaks it down here www.thetrace.org/2025/09/trum...
thetrace.org
Trump’s Big Crime Lies
As the president prepares to send federal troops into Memphis and Chicago, we debunk a few of his most mendacious talking points.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
NEWS: In 2020, the ATF added nonbinary as a sex choice on the federal background check form for gun sales. Now, the agency says the form is being modified to comply with Trump's order declaring male and female immutable categories. www.thetrace.org/2025/09/gun-...
thetrace.org
Buying a Gun Is About to Get More Complicated for Nonbinary People
The ATF has told The Trace that the federal background check form for gun sales is being revised to recognize only two sexes.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Suicide among older men, particularly white men, is rising. Reporter amendelson.bsky.social goes deep and delivers illuminating details, like a gun store owner catching heat for trying to boost suicide awareness. Check it out: www.thetrace.org/2025/09/gun-...
thetrace.org
The Quiet Crisis: What’s Driving Gun Suicides Among Older Americans?
More and more older Americans are dying by firearm suicide, a new analysis from The Trace and GQ reveals. Older white men and those in rural areas experience alarmingly high rates.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Rita Oceguera keeps a spotlight on disinfo for @thetrace.org www.thetrace.org/2025/09/chic...
thetrace.org
Trump Says Chicago Is Crime-Ridden. But Shootings Are Down 50 Percent Since His First Term.
Chicagoans interviewed by The Trace say they’ve been feeling safer in their neighborhoods — and do not want intervention from ICE or the National Guard.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Race and geography divide gun deaths in Washtenaw County, MI, reflecting a national pattern. More fine work by @josiahbates.bsky.social in @thetrace.org www.thetrace.org/2025/09/wash...
thetrace.org
This Midwestern County's Divergent Gun Violence Patterns Reflect a Broader American Reality
In Washtenaw County, Michigan, social workers and community violence specialists are responding differently, if simultaneously, to gun suicides and homicides.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Chip Brownlee @bychipbrownlee.com · 29/08/2025
Most of the states backing Trump’s crime crackdown have areas with higher gun homicide rates than the nation’s capital, a Trace analysis shows. At least 17 Mississippi counties endured more gun homicides per capita than the nation’s capital in 2024. Read: www.thetrace.org/2025/08/nati...
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
In a Q&A with a law and policing expert, @jenmascia.bsky.social explores limits to further crackdowns in Democratic cities that have opposed Trump. www.thetrace.org/2025/08/trum...
thetrace.org
Legal Constraints Could Stymie Trump’s Plans to Police Other Cities
We spoke with a policing expert from Yale Law School about whether a federal takeover could come to New York or Chicago.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Joy Resmovits @joyresmo.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
"The ongoing dispute exposed a foundational fracture in the city’s community violence intervention efforts. … That structural shift, according to several local activists, marked the beginning of a more top-down, enforcement-driven approach."
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
March for Our Lives, an important youth mobilizer, has hit hard times. Quite hard. Details in my latest story: www.thetrace.org/2025/08/marc...
thetrace.org
They Rallied the Nation After the Parkland School Shooting. Years Later, Their Group Is Floundering.
The gun reform group has been rocked by divisions, layoffs, and — most recently — a lawsuit alleging racism and retaliation.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Craig Hunter @chunterct.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Trump claimed the nation’s capital has been “taken over by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.” But crime in D.C. and other cities he's targeted is not out of control — in fact, it’s decreasing. Below, we fact-check his claims.
thetrace.org
The Data Doesn’t Support Trump’s Justification for Deploying the National Guard
Trump has taken over policing in D.C. and threatened to do the same in other cities. A Trace analysis shows that his claims of runaway violence are false.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
After capitalizing on a favorable 2022 Supreme Court ruling, gun rights groups are filing far fewer new legal challenges to firearms restrictions in federal court. But they have lots of irons in the fire at the federal appellate level. www.thetrace.org/2025/06/gun-...
thetrace.org
What’s Behind the Decline in Pro-Gun Lawsuits?
While filing fewer lawsuits against gun restrictions, gun rights groups are still touting their litigation efforts to rally supporters — and raise money.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
www.thetrace.org/2025/04/paul...
thetrace.org
Trump's War on Law Firms May Imperil Gun Suits
After the president sought to punish Paul Weiss, references to its work on firearms disappeared from its website. Gun safety advocates fear a retreat.
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
Chip Brownlee @bychipbrownlee.com · 04/04/2025
If you're a current or former federal employee who works on gun violence prevention, data collection, or research, I would love to hear from you. Protonmail: chip.c.brownlee@protonmail.com Signal: byChipBrownlee.01 Keybase: keybase.io/chip_brownlee
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Here's an update to some deep digging published with @motherjones.com over the summer. Millions more in anonymous cash was spent on the operation in 2023. www.thetrace.org/2025/01/gun-...
thetrace.org
The Secret Plan to Strike Down U.S. Gun Laws
For decades, McLean Bible Church has served as the place of worship for many of Washington, D.C.’s Republican elite. The sprawling evangelical megachurch in Vienna, Virginia, boasts a roster of former...
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
The Trace @thetrace.org · 03/12/2024
Stand up for truth and safety. Your gift to The Trace will ensure that gun violence is never ignored. Donate today to have your impact doubled during our NewsMatch campaign: thetrace.fundjournalism.org/?campai…
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 24/02/2024
www.thetrace.org/2024/02/nra-...
thetrace.org
Jury Finds the NRA, Wayne LaPierre Liable in Corruption Case
A jury has found the National Rifle Association and its recently departed CEO, Wayne LaPierre, liable in a civil corruption case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Jurors ordered LaPi...
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 23/02/2024
A jury has reached a verdict in the NY AG's lawsuit against the NRA and its former CEO Wayne LaPierre. More to come.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 17/02/2024
The NY AG's case against the NRA is now with the jury.
thetrace.org
Jury Weighs Thorny NRA Corruption Charges
A jury in a Manhattan courthouse began deliberating February 16 in the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud case against the National Rifle Association and its former boss, Wayne LaPierre. The morn...
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
The Trace @thetrace.org · 09/02/2024
NEW: Details have been scarce since the IRS claimed during the NRA’s failed 2021 bankruptcy that the gun group owed it money — following an October 2020 report that the agency was investigating CEO Wayne LaPierre. A previously unreported document may provide clues, @vansant.bsky.social writes.
thetrace.org
The IRS May Have Investigated the NRA, Document Suggests. What Happened?
Midway through week two of the National Rifle Association’s ongoing civil corruption trial in Manhattan last month, a defense attorney asked the organization’s chief financial officer whether the NRA had ever received “an inquiry from the IRS” about its annual tax filing. “Yes,” answered Sonya Rowling, who joined the NRA in 1999 and became CFO […]
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 19/01/2024
Wayne LaPierre's attorney wants to limit his client's time testifying on days LaPierre is fatigued. In addition to the already disclosed Lyme, a doctor's note the attorney provided cites "cognitive decline ... in a setting of a family history of Alzheimer's ... and significant cerebral volume loss"
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
The Trace @thetrace.org · 11/01/2024
In June 2009, the NRA’s treasurer enlisted the group’s longtime PR firm to obfuscate executives’ extravagant spending. We obtained a secret audio recording of that meeting. In partnership with @propublica.bsky.social:
thetrace.org
New Recording Shows NRA Treasurer Plotting to Conceal Extravagant Expenses Involving Wayne LaPierre
At a meeting in June 2009, the treasurer of the National Rifle Association worked out a plan to conceal luxury expenses involving its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, according to audio of the meeting...
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Reposted by Will Van Sant
The Trace @thetrace.org · 08/01/2024
Our staff writer @vansant.bsky.social previewed the NRA's corruption trial and its stakes below — and will continue to follow the case in the coming weeks. For regular updates: TheTrace.org/Newsletters
thetrace.org
The NRA Is Headed to Trial and Its CEO Just Resigned. What Could That Mean For the Organization?
A Manhattan jury is expected to begin hearing New York Attorney General Letitia James’s case against the National Rifle Association on January 8, three and a half years after she filed a lawsuit aga...
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 08/01/2024
Chronic Lyme disease is the condition behind Wayne LaPierre's decision to resign, per an NRA filing in the NY AG's case, which goes to trial today. Also, the group is arguing that his exodus undercuts claims that NRA illegality is "continuing or imminently likely to recur."
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 06/01/2024
More NRA trial news: The NY AG and Josh Powell, a defendant and former aid to Wayne LaPierre, have settled. Powell admits to breaching his fiduciary duty to the NRA and must make $100K restitution in exchange for truthful testimony at trial and any further related legal actions.
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Will Van Sant @vansant.bsky.social · 05/01/2024
My first story post on here for @thetrace.org: The NRA's Wayne LaPierre resigns. www.thetrace.org/2024/01/wayn...
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