The Trace

The Trace How insurance affects gunshot patients’ care has long been shrouded in mystery. An investigation by The Trace and KFF Health News, also published by the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald, finally sheds some light. For more than a year, The Trace and KFF Health News analyzed Florida hospital records — data that contained patients’ insurance status, the zip code where they live, their race, and other demographic information — and reviewed academic studies and government documents.

The Trace Alea Bates wasn’t ready to leave Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare’s main hospital four days after a stranger shot her seven times at close range. Miraculously, hospital records show, none of the bullets damaged her internal organs. But after surgery, Bates said, she couldn’t get out of bed or walk to the bathroom without help. She complained of intense pain radiating down her left leg, weakness in her knee, and a numbing sensation below it, according to hospital records.

Fred Clasen-Kelly Fred Clasen-Kelly is a senior correspondent for KFF Health News. Previously, he wrote about housing, racial inequality, and social justice in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia for the USA Today Network and was a member of The Charlotte Observer’s investigation team. His work has been recognized with a Sigma Delta Chi award for public service journalism, the Annie E. Casey Medal, and other honors. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University.

The Trace Every 30 minutes, on average, someone is treated in an American emergency room for a firearm injury. Many die, but most experience a hospital stay to receive care. And whether or not a person has health insurance can influence how long they get that care, according to a new yearlong investigation by The Trace and KFF Health News. Our newsrooms analyzed Florida hospital billing data, available because of Florida state law.

Daniel Chang Daniel Chang is a Florida correspondent for KFF Health News. Before that he worked for 22 years at the Miami Herald, where his health care reporting focused on access to care for low-income patients; accountability of physicians, hospitals, and state health agencies; and the covid-19 pandemic.

The Trace The Supreme Court’s second major Second Amendment case of the term came to a close on Thursday, when the high court struck down a Hawaii law that banned carrying guns on publicly accessible private property without the owner’s express permission. That means restaurants, gyms, and other businesses in Hawaii and states with similar laws will now be required to explicitly tell customers if guns aren’t allowed. As The Trace’s Chip Brownlee reports, the decision in Wolford v.

The Trace For the past few months, our team has been working with photographer Robert Gerhardt to transform an online photo essay on Brownsville, Brooklyn, into a 50-page zine, our newsroom’s first independently produced piece of print journalism.

The Trace There are nearly two murder-suicides every day in the United States, according to a recent analysis conducted by The Trace. Find Support Help is Available 24 Hours a Day 988, press 1, or text 838255 The people left behind face a tangle of grief, anger, and sadness that sets them apart from other survivor groups. This is especially true for family members of the perpetrator. How do you begin to grieve for someone who killed another person?

The Trace Federal courts have now ruled on more than 3,000 challenges to gun laws since the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 Bruen decision expanded the right to bear arms, according to a database maintained by The Trace. The Trace recently updated its database of post-Bruen challenges through May 2026, bringing the total to 3,327 rulings. The milestone underscores how thoroughly Bruen has federal gun litigation and fueled a surge in challenges to firearm restrictions across the country.

The Trace The Supreme Court on June 25 struck down Hawaii’s ban on carrying guns at businesses and other publicly accessible private property without the owner’s express permission. In a 6-3 decision, the court said the law was unconstitutional because it was inconsistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. “Hawaii’s prohibitions on public carry represent a distinct outlier,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority in Wolford v. Lopez.