champe barton
@champebarton
Followers
697
Following
7K
Media
331
Statuses
15K
like @joysharonyi and her video squad, who produced a moving documentary to accompany the story, or @brianrmonroe who animated a highly technical graphic of the internal operation of the pistol. The story is clearer, sharper, and more compelling for their contributions.
1
0
2
and thanks to @tomjackmanwp, @mileskohrman, @craigtimberg, and @mattzap for helping guide this thing. felt like more people supported this story over the past year than the total number of people who work at the trace, lol
1
0
3
thankful to all the victims, lawyers, and experts who were so generous with their time and so open about difficult, often painful experiences with this gun
1
0
1
Read more in my full investigation, out today in partnership with @washingtonpost:
thetrace.org
SIG Sauer’s P320 pistol has wounded more than 80 people who say they didn’t pull the trigger — and no U.S. agency has the power to intervene.
3
6
8
Bill Lewinski, a behavioral scientist and one of the nation’s leading experts on accidental shootings, told me the situation with the P320 is serious. “The number and frequency of injuries are strongly suggestive of a design flaw,” he said. “What we’re seeing is highly unusual.”
1
0
3
There's no federal agency with regulatory authority to investigate alleged malfunctions in guns, to set mandatory design or manufacturing standards, or to impose recalls if a gun proves defective.
1
0
4
More than 100 people say the SIG Sauer P320 has fired on them when they didn’t pull its trigger. At least 80 were injured in these shootings. Many of the incidents were caught on video, showing the frightening moments after a gun unexpectedly fires.
1
0
2
But many of the guns involved in these shootings had been upgraded, or purchased after the pistol’s design had been changed. They weren’t dropped; they fired, their owners said, when holstered, while jostled inside bags, while owners stepped out of cars or walked down stairs.
1
0
2
In 2017, reports had surfaced that the P320 would fire when dropped at certain angles. SIG Sauer modified the design of the pistol, and launched an upgrade program where customers could return their guns to have the redesigned parts installed.
1
0
2
I had initially thought what I imagine many people familiar with this gun thought: that the guns involved in these incidents had yet to be upgraded per the company’s Voluntary Upgrade Program. But I was wrong.
1
0
2
I, along with @TomJackmanWP, spent the next eight months tracking down victims, talking to lawyers, and poring over records from lawsuits and police departments that showed a startlingly widespread problem involving arguably America’s most popular handgun.
1
0
2
Almost a year ago now, I spotted a crop of lawsuits filed against the gunmaker SIG Sauer from people who claimed the company’s flagship pistol — the P320 — had fired on them when they didn’t pull its trigger. Some of the injuries were gruesome.
5
11
22
Big news: We’re officially launching our local reporting initiative. We’ve created local bureaus in two cities, Chicago and Philadelphia, and hired four great reporters. Today, we’re unveiling a dedicated home for coverage on our website: https://t.co/1xy1f0vNcm
1
27
56
Starting next week, I will be a public health reporter covering gun violence @teamtrace. Really grateful to have the opportunity to cover such an important topic and work with a team whose work I admire so much. Please send tips and ideas as I get started!
14
11
72
NEW: Since early 2020, shootings have surged — and at the same time, gun and ammunition sales have skyrocketed, scoring record-breaking profits for the companies that manufacture them. From @champebarton, in partnership with @RollingStone:
thetrace.org
Publicly traded gun and ammo companies have raked in unprecedented profits during the pandemic.
6
15
27
Since early 2020, shootings have surged — and at the same time, gun and ammunition sales have skyrocketed, scoring record-breaking profits for the companies that manufacture them. In partnership with @teamtrace:
rollingstone.com
Publicly traded gun and ammo companies have raked in unprecedented profits during the pandemic.
8
11
43
all of which, former Biden ATF Director nom @davidchipman told me, adds up to a regulatory agency that appears to value its closeness with the gun industry over its obligation to protect the public from that industry’s misconduct https://t.co/xHfJRXnbra
thetrace.org
A report from the Chicago mayor’s office named gun stores whose wares consistently wound up in city crimes. ATF records show the agency was lenient.
1
0
1
My reporting follows a much larger investigation by @AlainStephens, our former (😢) colleagues @BrianFreskos & @dnlnss, and @USATODAY’s @npenzenstadler, which found a similar pattern of toothless inspections across more than 2000 gun stores from 2015-2017 https://t.co/JtMUgs4bQD
thetrace.org
The agency that polices the gun industry let dealers get away with falsifying records and selling firearms without background checks.
1
0
2