My reaction to El Paso and Dayton. Share yours?

Our job is to help shed light on this crisis. MoJo Reader, It's usually a good thing to see a Mother Jones story getting tons of attention, and see our reporters get booked on TV and radio to talk about their expertise. But when it’s our public database of mass shootings that's getting the sudden interest, the first reaction in our newsroom—just like in every living room in America—is, “Not again.” It’s one of our grimmest tasks to add yet another update to what is now a rigorously fact-checked [list]( of 115 mass shootings since 1982, more than half of them in the past seven years. But we can’t stop there, at the grief and horror and body count. Our job as journalists is to help shed light on this crisis—to tell the truth about what is really happening, what some of the forces behind it are, and perhaps most importantly, how this is neither inevitable nor hopeless. Gun violence has been a major focus of the Mother Jones newsroom for years, and our reporters are fanning out again this week to investigate some of the key questions raised by the horror in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. I wanted to share some of what we’ve found in case it’s useful to you and your circles as you move from horror to action. First of all, amid all the grim news, a story you shouldn’t miss comes from Mark Follman, who has led our gun violence coverage for the past seven years. He took an in-depth look at [threat assessment](, a discipline that actually works to prevent these tragedies by bringing together policy experts, educators, law enforcement, psychologists, and others to identify people who could present a threat to themselves and others, and intervene effectively. Mark also recently [investigated]( ties between misogyny, domestic violence, and mass shootings. And his exhaustive assessment of the [enormous cost]( of gun violence to the nation illuminates how this is both a public health crisis and a huge economic burden on families, communities, and the government. Mark is now digging into the data to figure out how often white supremacist ideology is linked to mass shootings. Look for that story at MotherJones.com soon. Meanwhile, our Los Angeles–based immigration reporter, Fernanda Echavarri, got on a plane to El Paso Monday morning and has been [reporting]( there on how the community is responding, with an eye particularly to immigrant communities’ grief and resilience. Her stories will be posted at MotherJones.com all week, and you can [follow her on Twitter]( to make sure you see them. Abigail Weinberg and Inae Oh have been following all the latest news on El Paso, Dayton, and the response, including items you won’t see elsewhere, such as Trump’s history of trashing El Paso (and [stiffing the city]( for the police bill for his rallies) and Beto O’Rourke’s no-holds-barred [response]( to a reporter’s question about the president and white supremacy. Our team in DC is also looking into the flow of money into the NRA as the group has come under more scrutiny; the way law enforcement (and presidents) have treated white supremacist terrorism in the past; and what can be done to combat this threat from now on. And almost two years ago, after the Las Vegas massacre, I wrote about our [public database project]( and why we’ve kept at it for so long: "Perhaps the single most terrifying thing we’ve discovered…is how little is actually known about what is now an undeniable public health crisis. This ignorance is not happenstance. It is willful and politically motivated, the direct result of concerted efforts to suppress research and reporting on this topic. And it deprives all of us of the information we need to stop these tragedies and save lives.” Knowing that the team at Mother Jones is working every day to combat this information void, and to bring to light solid, rigorously fact-checked data and stories on this issue, helps me cling to sanity at moments like this. And so does hearing from readers about the work you’re doing, and which questions you think we should investigate. Just reply to this email to let me know what you're thinking, because at times like these, even just venting and knowing someone is listening is sometimes the best you can hope for. Thanks for reading, Monika Bauerlein, CEO Mother Jones This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings](E2%80%8B). For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit](. Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today](. [www.MotherJones.com]() PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755