20,806 dead Americans
How Trump fueled the largest increase in violence in American history.
Welcome back to “The Background Check,” a rundown of gun safety policy insights. If you don’t know us (👋) we’re Evergreen, a policy and comms firm with a specialty in gun violence prevention issues.
By Corey Ciorciari, Molly Voigt, Jacquelyn Katson, Arman Abrishamchian, and Lucas Burgard
We all know the topline: Gun violence surged during the pandemic, and in recent years, has declined significantly. But that trend – at least the magnitude of it – wasn’t inevitable. It was the result of the policy choices of two presidents.
We know because we dug into the data. President Trump cracked down on 56% fewer law-breaking gun stores than President Biden each year, cut gun store inspections by 47%, provided 68% less funding to police departments throughout his term, and invested 99% less in community violence intervention (CVI) programs.
Trump also quietly took a series of deadly executive actions, including making it easier for fugitives to buy guns, limiting the availability of gun safety locks that protect kids, purging 500,000 records from the background check system, and attempting to divert education funding to arm teachers in classrooms.
The result: Trump presided over the single largest increase in violence in modern American history, while Biden presided over the single largest decrease. Because of Trump’s gun violence surge, 20,806 additional Americans are dead today.
Here’s a closer look at Trump’s records (and our receipts):
🔺HOMICIDE: Homicides increased 33% under Trump and, so far, have dropped 12% under Biden.
Under Trump, the rate at which murders were solved fell lower than under any president in modern history.
🔻CRIMINAL GUN STORE ACCOUNTABILITY: Trump cracked down on fewer law-breaking gun stores than any president in modern history, revoking 56% fewer licenses from criminal gun stores than Biden, on average, each year.
Gun dealer inspections also dropped 47% under Trump and rose 31% under Biden.
🔺 GUN SALES TO POTENTIAL CRIMINALS: Under Trump, the number of gun sales processed by dealers without a completed background check – guns that fell through the “Charleston Loophole” – increased by 105%.
Under Biden, those sales dropped by 20%.
🔻CVI FUNDING: Trump invested $2.2 billion less in CVI programs than Biden over the course of his term – 98.9% less than Biden.
Trump actually tried to eliminate all funding for CVI, but failed.
🔻POLICE FUNDING: Trump provided $17.9 billion less in funding to police agencies than Biden over the course of his term – 68% less than Biden.
Trump attempted to cut an additional $3.9 billion in police funding over four years, but Democrats in Congress stopped him.
TRUMP’S GUNS AGENDA
The numbers don’t tell the full story. Trump also took a series of executive actions designed by the gun lobby.
Trump diverted education funding to put guns in classrooms. Teachers unions sued Trump after his administration allowed school districts to purchase firearms for teachers using federal “student academic enrichment” grant funding.
Trump made it easier for fugitives to buy guns. Trump illegally narrowed the definition of a “fugitive from justice” under the Gun Control Act, meaning a narrower set of fugitives are barred from buying guns under federal law.
Trump purged 500k records of fugitives from the background check system. As Democracy Forward noted at the time, Trump didn’t just narrow the definition of “fugitives from justice,” he also purged all existing records in the background check system identifying fugitives. That made it harder to block gun sales to fugitives, including those still barred under Trump’s narrower definition.
Trump made it harder to buy child safety locks. At the behest of the gun lobby, Trump froze two rules that would have required gun stores to sell child safety locks. Once in office, Biden reversed Trump’s freeze and finalized the rules.
EVERGREEN PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
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