A coalition pledge to make hospitals share violent crime data with police is being carried out in only a third of areas in England, an audit shows. The government has written to hospitals and chief constables for an explanation after the Department of Health audit. Accident and emergency departments are meant to share information about where knife or gun attacks are happening with the police and local council. This was part of the government's programme for... (GunPolicy.org)

Author Stephen King once asked his publisher to pull one of his novels off the shelves. Six people had died — in real life. Four boys in 10 years brought guns to school. One killed a teacher and two students. Another shot five members of a prayer group, killing three. All four teenagers had read Rage, a book King wrote when he was a teen himself and published under another name. King, in a blunt, impassioned essay, wrote that when he learned of the copycat crimes,... (GunPolicy.org)

Detectives are investigating alleged threats and misuse of firearms by aides to some politicians in Mombasa County. Coast provincial police boss Aggrey Adoli said his office had received complaints over misuse of arms which had caused a major security threat during campaigns. "We want to establish if the bodyguards who have been brandishing pistols and shooting in the air in public places have genuine license to carry the firearms," said Adoli. A senior police... (GunPolicy.org)

With the debate raging in the US over firearms laws, several misperceptions are being aired in their media about guns and their relationship to crime in Australia. Some misrepresentations are linked to reports and statistics published by the Australian Institute of Criminology. Older data and findings from the early-2000s are being used to argue that the Howard government gun reforms had little effect on violent crime in Australia. Australia is often cited in the US... (GunPolicy.org)

The American confectionery company Victoria Sweets claims to have invented the candy cigarette. A thin stick of chocolate, wrapped in edible paper and designed to impersonate a roll-up, it debuted in 1915 and soon became the accessory of choice for children keen to play grown-up. Hollywood star, GI Joe, team captain: the sweet gave kids the chance try out one of the vogue props of adulthood. Within 20 years it was so popular that cigarette companies began to take... (GunPolicy.org)

By cutting off federal funding for research and stymieing data collection and sharing, the National Rifle Association has tried to do to the study of gun violence what climate deniers have done to the science of global warming. No wonder: When it comes to hard numbers, some of the gun lobby's favorite arguments are full of holes. Myth #1: They're coming for your guns. Fact-check: No one knows the exact number of guns in America, but it's clear there's no practical way... (GunPolicy.org)

Politicians in Uruguay are offering gun owners an amnesty with a twist — with those handing in their deadly firearms being given a bicycle or a laptop computer in exchange. The move, which will also see sentences for the illegal possession of guns made more severe, comes as the government revealed that one in three of its citizens were armed. The Interior Ministry said in a statement: "The campaign proposes an exchange; the citizens hand over the firearm and... (GunPolicy.org)