100 Days Later, Trump’s America Is Much More Dangerous 

The deluge of news over the last 100 days has been overwhelming and exhausting to keep up with, especially when so many policies, people, and federal agencies are impacted. 

Can’t remember everything he’s done? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ve summarized all of Trump’s gun-related actions and noted exactly how they may affect the gun violence epidemic that plagues America. 

Abruptly rescinded millions of dollars of grants to local gun violence prevention and crime reduction programs, as well as domestic violence assistance programs and drug addiction intervention programs. 

This decision has reversed years of strategic investment in evidence-based and community-rooted responses to violence, trauma, and addiction, and it has destabilized the many community-based ecosystems of violence prevention. Programs were halted midstream and vital supports ceased immediately, leaving important programs, work, organizations, research, and more without funding or contingency plans.

Fired crucial gun violence prevention researchers.

We won’t have accurate, timely data to study gun violence and develop effective solutions, making it much harder to save lives. This decision will continue to impact the field—and our ability to prevent gun violence—for years to come.

Deleted the groundbreaking Surgeon General advisory that labeled gun violence a public health crisis. (Don’t worry though, GIFFORDS has made the advisory available for anyone to access.)

Gun violence is a public health crisis, and we must treat it as one in order to effectively save lives. Without the federal government’s support in doing so, our fight to prevent gun violence will consist of patchwork efforts across all 50 states.

Shuttered the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

The office helped coordinate federal response efforts to mass shootings and community violence, worked directly with state and local partners to help reduce gun violence, and helped implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and executive actions on gun safety. Without it, the gun violence prevention movement lacks structured federal guidance and support, making it harder for folks in every state to continue their work reducing gun violence. 

Shut down a school safety board that he created in 2018, following the Parkland massacre.

This board was part of an interagency effort to share resources and best practices related to school safety. By betraying the Parkland victims’ families and disbanding this crucial resource, he has made it harder to reduce gun violence.

Issued an executive order to undo lifesaving progress in the fight to prevent gun violence; so far, this has resulted in the reversal of the ATF’s zero tolerance policy, which revoked the licenses of gun dealers who willfully broke the law.

Gun sellers can endanger communities by selling to people who shouldn’t have access to guns, increasing the likelihood of gun violence, without paying a price.

In this case, it’s more like what did he not do: Trump refuses to nominate a permanent director for the ATF, and he has only appointed acting directors who already have full-time jobs. 

Without full-time leadership and the resources it requires, the ATF isn’t able to effectively stop violent crime. Trump’s first appointee, FBI Director and gun extremist Kash Patel, couldn’t handle the job. He was replaced by US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, who will likely face the same issues as Patel, given his already busy job running the Army. Enforcing gun laws and reducing gun violence is not a part-time job. 

Proposed merging the ATF and the DEA.

This move would effectively defund the police. It would limit the power of both agencies and cut resources from the ATF, weakening the agency’s efforts to stop gun traffickers, straw purchasers, and gun dealers breaking the law and making it harder to prevent gun violence.

Reassigned ATF agents to different departments to “help carry out deportations.”

Once again, Trump has weakened the only federal agency that exists to stop gun crime.

Made public a plan to allow people convicted of violent domestic abuse to get their guns back and restored the rights for several domestic violence offenders, including Mel Gibson. 

When an abusive partner has a gun, a domestic violence victim is five times more likely to be killed. Every year, more than 700 American women are shot to death by intimate partners—more than one every 12 hours. If those convicted of domestic abuse are allowed to access guns, millions of women and children will immediately be at risk.

Created a “Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force” to push the gun lobby’s radical agenda. 

It may have an indirect effect on gun violence, as it’ll likely raise tensions between gun extremists and those trying to prevent gun violence, resulting in more dangerous people getting their hands on guns.  

Appointed—and the Senate confirmed—RFK Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

RFK Jr. does not believe gun violence is a public health crisis or that it’s important to research gun violence. He’s also begun cutting 10,000 jobs from his department, including from crucial, timely work by national health organizations. These cuts have severely impacted the gun violence prevention movement’s ability to track gun violence and come up with effective solutions. 

Upon reflection, the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency have been pretty terrible. He’s put more people at risk of gun violence, removed lifesaving information and programs, and done everything he can to line the pockets of his gun lobby friends. Without a doubt, Trump’s America is more dangerous than ever. And he’s done all of this while still refusing to acknowledge the dangers posed by gun violence. 

This doesn’t bode well for the next four years. But that doesn’t mean we’re giving up.

In fact, we’re turning up the pressure. GIFFORDS won’t let Trump and his lackeys get away with demolishing public safety in this country. We’re holding reckless companies accountable in court for their dangerous actions. We’re helping states pass and defend strong gun safety laws. And we’re making sure Republicans can’t undo all our progress without a fight. We’ll do everything we can to prevent gun violence and save lives.