Plus, the libel lawsuit against us that challenges the First Amendment.

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** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
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Saturday, May 28, 2022

Hello! In this issue:
* Why efforts to enact comprehensive laws to reduce gun violence ([link removed]) are failing.
* A multimillion-dollar libel lawsuit against us challenges the First Amendment. We need your help. ([link removed])

* Reveal brings home two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards ([link removed]) .


** THIS WEEK’S EPISODE
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** Shooting in the Dark: Why Gun Reform Keeps Failing
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We began reporting and production for this week’s Reveal ([link removed]) before a gunman killed 10 people at a Tops Friendly Markets grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14 ([link removed]) ; before a gunman killed one person and injured five others at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, on May 15 ([link removed]) ; and before a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday ([link removed]) .

“Nowhere else in the world does this happen but here in America,” host Al Letson says at the top of the show.

These are tragedies that come as firearm deaths in the United States are at an all-time high. In 2020 alone, gun factories produced ([link removed]) more than 11 million firearms, gun homicides jumped ([link removed]) 35%, and firearms became the leading cause ([link removed]) of death for children and teens.

You’ve heard the question and maybe have asked it yourself: What can be done to decrease gun violence in this country? U.S. lawmakers have been unable – and, in many cases, unwilling – to make meaningful change with the politics of guns being so polarized. So on this week’s Reveal, we examine why previous legislative efforts have failed and look at one unexpected breakthrough.

You’ll hear:
* How the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut opened a path to common ground on new federal gun regulations – and how that common ground abruptly disappeared. Since then, new gun laws that both ​​loosen and tighten gun restrictions have come only from the state level.
* From reporter Alain Stephens ([link removed]) , a former Reveal fellow who now covers emerging violence and gun technology for The Trace. He tells us how the rise of the auto sear ([link removed]) , a small device that can turn a semiautomatic weapon into an automatic machine gun, is the most troubling thing he is seeing now. It was used as recently as April ([link removed]) in a mass shooting in Sacramento, California, but it’s difficult to know how widely it’s been used in other shootings – and that’s by design. “When it comes to gun violence and gun reporting, the federal entities that are involved in this are particularly secretive,” Stephens told us.
And he has direct knowledge of this. In 2017, as he was investigating police guns used in crimes for us, he filed a public records request with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for crime gun data. We ended up having to file a lawsuit ([link removed]) , with the court coming to a groundbreaking decision ([link removed]) that would lift a veil of secrecy at the bureau.

How killings by intimate partners have been climbing, like many types of gun violence. Lawmakers had seemed gridlocked until March, when Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together to agree on national legislation ([link removed]) to combat domestic violence. The bill, spurred by our reporting ([link removed]) , included measures that give state and local law enforcement more power to crack down on abusers who have weapons unlawfully. Reveal reporter Jennifer Gollan discusses what happens next as authorities put those measures into action.
Listen to the episode ([link removed])

🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , Google Podcasts ([link removed]) , Stitcher ([link removed]) or wherever you get your podcasts.
🎨 Illustration by Jess Suttner for Reveal


** RELATED READS
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* The Uvalde Massacre Raises the Stakes for Hearings on Biden’s Pick to Run the ATF [The New York Times ([link removed]) ]
* The Buffalo and Uvalde Gunmen Bought Their Rifles Legally at 18 [The Trace ([link removed]) ]
* Supreme Court May Soon Loosen Gun Laws as Nation Reels From Massacres [CNN ([link removed]) ]
* On 2nd Anniversary of George Floyd's Killing, Black Buffalo Residents Feel the Weight [NPR ([link removed]) ]


** WE NEED YOUR HELP
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** Libel Lawsuit Against Us Challenges the First Amendment
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Planet Aid’s used clothing donation boxes can be found in parking lots across the United States. Credit: Amy Walters/Reveal

In 2016, we released our investigation ([link removed]) into international aid group Planet Aid, which tied the charity to an alleged cult and raised significant questions about whether funds from the U.S. and other governments actually were reaching the people they were intended to help. Several months after the initial stories were published, Planet Aid filed a libel lawsuit against us in federal court, and we’ve been fighting it ever since.
* In 2021, a federal district judge in California dismissed the entire case with prejudice.
* However, Planet Aid appealed the case. Our case is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, one of the highest courts in the country. Our oral argument is scheduled for June 14 in San Francisco.
* This case grows increasingly more aggressive as it is appealed higher up. It forces us to respond to assaults on our credibility and integrity as a news organization and depletes precious resources that could have been directed toward public service journalism.

The total cost of legal fees to date is approximately $5 million. We would not be here today if it wasn’t for the pro bono representation of Covington & Burling LLP and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, including our outside counsel Thomas Burke, along with the countless hours put in by our legal team.

We will give everything we have to defend the public’s right to know the truth, no matter who’s trying to hide it. If you would like to support our efforts, please consider making a donation ([link removed]) before our June 14 hearing.
Donate before June 14 ([link removed])

Your generosity will help ensure we have the time and resources to keep up this important fight for the freedom of the press.

Thank you,

Reveal team


** In Case You Missed It
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A Post-Roe Future Is Already Happening in Florida ([link removed])

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A Family Divided Over Jan. 6: ‘Traitors Get Shot’ ([link removed])


** Ending on a Good Note
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🏆 Reveal’s ‘Mississippi Goddam,’ ‘Unrelinquished’ Win Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards. Established in 1968, the RFK Journalism Awards honor outstanding reporting ([link removed]) on issues that reflect Kennedy’s concerns, including human rights, social justice and the power of individual action in the United States and around the world.

🏆Reveal’s ‘Handcuffed and Unhoused’ Wins Two Society of Professional Journalists Awards. The Greater Oregon Pro Chapter ([link removed]) has honored our show ([link removed]) , which examined how unhoused people often get entangled in a criminal justice cycle that leads back to the streets or worse, with awards ([link removed]) in the crime and law enforcement reporting and social equity reporting categories.

🏆Reveal’s General Counsel, Vickie Baranetsky, Wins the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Rising Star Award. The organization has honored ([link removed]) Baranetsky with the award for her work in “leading the way on litigation that is protecting and uplifting reporting across the United States.”
The Weekly Reveal is written by Kassie Navarro, edited by Sarah Mirk and Andrew Donohue and copy edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!

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