Joy Resmovits
@joyresmo.bsky.social
730 followers 700 following 67 posts
Editor at The Trace focused on creating a more inclusive model for covering gun violence at the local level, and some other things. Before that (and always, in a sense): the education beat. After hours: theater, music, books, art, Chaucer.
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joyresmo.bsky.social
For the last year plus, @thetrace.org's Mensah M. Dean has put his decades of experience and expertise toward exploring a difficult question: Why does the gun violence crisis affect Black Americans at disproportionate rates?

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joyresmo.bsky.social
"The attack was at least the 20th high-profile shooting at a house of worship in the United States over the past two decades, according to a Trace analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive and other nonprofits that track such incidents."
brianfreskos.bsky.social
Sunday's church attack in Michigan was at least the 20th high-profile shooting at a U.S. house of worship over the past two decades.

Collectively, these shootings left at least 92 dead and 100 wounded.
A Timeline of High-Profile Shootings at Houses of Worship
The attack on a Mormon church in Michigan was one of many similar shootings over the past 20 years, according to an analysis by The Trace.
www.thetrace.org
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
thetrace.org
Investigators believe there may be additional victims of Sunday's shooting and fire at a Latter-day Saint church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan. So far, at least four people have been confirmed as dead and either others were wounded.
Michigan Church Shooting and Fire: What We Know
At least four people were killed after an attacker opened fire at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint building and intentionally set fire to the structure.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
brianfreskos.bsky.social
In the past two years, several shooters have attempted long-range assaults on politicians and government workers. Unlike many forms of public gun violence, these sorts of attacks evade most security measures, which makes preventing them exceedingly difficult.
The Dallas ICE Shooting Underscores How Hard It Is to Stop Sniper Attacks, Experts Say
“There really is not anything you can do to secure a public place 100 percent,” said Caylen Wojcik, a former Marine sniper.
www.thetrace.org
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
taliwoodward.bsky.social
We've covered this some at @thetrace.org, but Lydia Polgreen goes further here, showing how the rush to blame trans people for high-profile shootings exemplifies a broader mindset. (Trace story by @jenmascia.bsky.social)

www.thetrace.org/2025/07/mass...
joyresmo.bsky.social
Important, sobering story on something we rarely talk about from @amendelson.bsky.social @thetrace.org @gqmagazine.bsky.social.

From our analysis:
-Americans 70+ had the highest suicide rates
-Gun suicides kill more men 70+ than car crashes
-From 2009-23, 63,836 older Americans died by gun suicide
joyresmo.bsky.social
“They are taking innocent people and it’s affecting the community,” Raquel said. “You can’t even be at peace in your own home.”

Important story from Rita Oceguera in @thetrace.org @chicagoreader.com
joyresmo.bsky.social
"The shooting that claimed Kirk’s life did not happen in a vacuum. It follows a string of politically motivated attacks in the past two years: the attempted assassination of.. Donald Trump; the assassination of former Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband," and the CDC.
bychipbrownlee.com
There's a lot of speculation about the motive of the man who killed Charlie Kirk. Regardless of what we learn, this assassination is an accelerant on an already burning fire.

"The question is how high it’s gonna burn and how much destruction it’s gonna do," @jeffsharlet.bsky.social tells me.
Narratives About the Killing of Charlie Kirk May Be More Powerful Than the Facts
Jeff Sharlet, the author of ‘The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War,’ talked to The Trace about making sense of this tense moment.
www.thetrace.org
joyresmo.bsky.social
From a prescient 2024 opinion piece in @thetrace.org :

"To counter the ideology that drives political violence, we must refrain from normalizing the permission structure that condones it. ... Political leaders bear a significant responsibility."

www.thetrace.org/2024/08/trum...
A Call to Protect Democracy From Political Violence
Experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions consider what led to the current climate — and how we can change it.
www.thetrace.org
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
thetrace.org
Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot today at an event in Utah while on his “American Comeback” tour. He reportedly was being fact-checked at his “Prove Me Wrong” table about the trans mass shooter myth when he was shot.
Charlie Kirk Shot During Utah Valley University Event: Live Updates
Mr. Kirk, a close ally of President Trump, was shot in the neck while speaking in front of a large crowd on a university campus.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
josiahbates.bsky.social
Washtenaw County, Michigan, sits just west of Detroit but faces its own split gun violence crisis. In Ypsilanti, shootings are driven by retaliation. Across the county’s rural towns, older white men are dying by suicide at far higher rates. Local leaders have built two playbooks in response.
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.
www.thetrace.org
joyresmo.bsky.social
Philly gets yet another resource for keeping its streets clean. It's part of the city's effort to continue reducing violent crime.
joyresmo.bsky.social
@jenmascia.bsky.social found there were at least 22 swatting hoaxes at American colleges just between the last week of August and early September. "Most of the calls involved an armed person in the library. Some featured gunshots in the background."
www.thetrace.org/2025/09/swat... #tellewa
More Than 20 Active Shooting Hoaxes Have Locked Down Colleges Over the Past Two Weeks
Experts said swatting incidents can traumatize students and first responders.
www.thetrace.org
joyresmo.bsky.social
"The NSSF study, then, raises a key question: Why have Republican lawmakers largely stood against more significant reforms, let alone any reform at all? As the study indicates, many people with a favorable view of gun ownership appear open to going further than ... lawmakers."
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
amendelson.bsky.social
We have updated the Gun Violence Data Hub's page featuring data on mass shootings.

This data comes from the Gun Violence Archive, and uses their definition of "a minimum of four victims shot." You can find more information and download the data at this link
datahub.thetrace.org/dataset/mass...
Mass Shootings
Data on mass shootings in the United States, from the Gun Violence Archive.
datahub.thetrace.org
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
taliwoodward.bsky.social
If you don't think "thoughts and prayers" suffice at this moment, you may want to read about what the gun industry knows about firearms laws, by @mikespies.bsky.social
www.thetrace.org/2025/07/gun-...
joyresmo.bsky.social
From a @thetrace.org Q&A with a Yale policing expert:

"If we were talking about a city and a state, the National Guard wouldn’t be able to exercise general police powers like making arrests or investigating crimes. Washington poses a very different issue."

www.thetrace.org/2025/08/trum...
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.
www.thetrace.org
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
mikespies.bsky.social
In light of today’s shooting in Minnesota, here’s a relevant bit from the gun industry’s own research, which I obtained earlier this summer
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
jenmascia.bsky.social
Washington D.C.'s 12-day murder-free streak ended early this morning with the shooting death of a man just after midnight www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-n...
joyresmo.bsky.social
"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."
josiahbates.bsky.social
Minneapolis poured millions into community violence intervention groups after George Floyd’s murder.

Five years later, shootings are down, but the network of interrupters that helped stabilize the city is now fractured, caught in a contract standoff with the city.

My latest for @thetrace.org
'It's a Bully Tactic': Minneapolis Violence Interrupters Stand Off With the City
At the height of the racial justice protests in 2020, the Rev. Jerry McAfee was on the front lines in Minneapolis. When residents filled the streets after George Floyd’s murder, McAfee and other veter...
www.thetrace.org
Reposted by Joy Resmovits
chunterct.bsky.social
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.
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.
www.thetrace.org