COVER UP: Trump hides toll of gun violence on America, removes gun violence memorial from ATF

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released a statement calling out the Trump administration’s attempt to cover up and ignore the United States’ gun violence epidemic. So far in his second term, President Trump has fired researchers studying gun violence, deleted the previous Surgeon General’s advisory on gun violence, and just this past week, removed a memorial at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for victims of gun violence. The memorial featured the lives lost from everyday violence, mass shootings and officers killed in the line of duty.

“Gun violence is the number one killer of kids in this country, and gun crime continues to be an issue in America’s cities – but rather than addressing that, President Trump and his administration are trying to cover it up. At the gun lobby’s urging, the Trump administration has made it easier for dangerous people to get their hands on guns and cut critical violence prevention and mental health grants,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. “Americans deserve more, and we will continue fighting to save lives and raising the alarm when the administration risks them.”

Since his inauguration the Trump administration shuttered the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and removed the Surgeon General June 2024 advisory declaring gun violence a public health crisis, an important step to fight the gun epidemic, from its website. 

In February, Trump issued an executive order regarding guns. He called on the attorney general to “examine all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions of executive departments and agencies” from President Biden’s term and come up with a plan to undo them—under the guise of “protecting” the Second Amendment. 

The first step in moving the executive order forward was made on April 7, when Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the reversal of the ATF’s zero tolerance policy. The critical policy had revoked the licenses of gun dealers who willfully broke the law and was a powerful tool for combating gun trafficking and straw purchasing. By revoking it, the Trump administration showed its tolerance for these lawbreakers. In the same announcement, the Department of Justice announced that it is looking to weaken background checks by reviewing the “engaged in the business” ATF rule. 

Additionally in April, the administration abruptly canceled hundreds of active grants under the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI), as well as grants targeting crime-victim advocacy, opioid addiction prevention, hate crime prevention, domestic violence assistance programs, and community-based justice reform. These programs have been proven time and time again to successfully lower violent crime in communities. It also cancelled $1 billion in school mental health grants that was a product of bipartisan work in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. 

GIFFORDS is tracking President Trump’s disastrous record on gun violence here. During President Trump’s first term, gun violence rose by 34%.