Police inspectors have called for a national firearms licensing authority after finding England and Wales’ current system is “not fit for purpose”, echoing concerns raised by AOAV over inconsistent practices between forces.

Drill and rap lyrics are increasingly being used as evidence in British courts. But violent music should not be treated as autobiography, nor performance as proof of participation in violent crime.

London recorded its lowest homicide rate in over a decade in 2025, but this decline masked sharp increases in domestic abuse-related killings of women, murders of elderly victims, and teenage involvement in violence, highlighting deepening vulnerabilities despite overall progress.

This report by The University of Essex Human Rights Centre clinic argues that while UK and EU laws regulate illegal content and formal advertising, they fail to adequately address how influencers, online subcultures, and platform algorithms normalise gun-related and violence-adjacent behaviours, particularly among vulnerable audiences, and recommends a broader public health and regulatory approach to accountability.

A new study finds that more than 600,000 firearms sold in the United States were recovered in crimes within a year of purchase between 2015 and 2023, revealing structured trafficking routes across the Americas.

This report argues that global firearm violence should be understood as a gendered public-health crisis driven by the military-industrial complex, militarised masculinity, cultural normalisation of guns, and structural inequalities, requiring preventive, cross-sector policy responses rather than purely criminal justice approaches.

A new regional study shows that firearms trafficking has transformed Caribbean gun violence from a policing challenge into a full-blown public health crisis, draining fragile health systems and reshaping the region’s economic and social landscape.

A new Johns Hopkins survey finds broad bipartisan support among Americans—including most gun owners—for stronger gun safety measures such as licensing, safe storage, and red flag laws, reflecting a growing consensus that gun violence is a public health issue rather than a partisan one.

In 2024, Greater London recorded 102 homicides, with knife crime still the leading cause of death but shootings on the rise and a worrying surge in teenage offenders. Black individuals remained disproportionately affected as both victims and suspects, and the City of Westminster, along with several East London boroughs, emerged as new hotspots for lethal violence.

From Colt’s revolver to Trump-backed “shoot now, pay later” loans, the gun has remained capitalism’s most enduring and lethal commodity, its mass production and mass financing sustained by investors, lobbyists and regulators who turn profit into impunity.

Despite a falling violent crime rate, Mississippi now suffers the highest firearm death rate in the United States, with Jackson at its epicentre, surpassing many Latin American nations in homicides.

Two-thirds of U.S. adults have personally experienced gun violence—most acutely in Black and Hispanic communities—exposing the scale and racial disparities of America’s hidden public health crisis.