Firearms News

Introduction and summary On April 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce published policy reforms intended to reduce the risk that U.S. firearms would undermine U.S. foreign policy objectives or contribute to national security concerns overseas.1 Rolled out in a new interim final rule (IFR) that went into effect on May 30, these reforms will increase scrutiny of firearm exports and restrict exports for commercial use in high-risk countries. The IFR comes four years... [The Center for American Progress, Web page, via GunPolicy.org]

In this article, we will take a look at the 25 countries with highest gun ownership in 2024. If you want to skip our discussion on the gun industry, you can go directly to the 5 Countries with Highest Gun Ownership in 2024. In over 175 countries, civilians are allowed to own guns, but most have regulations in place. These regulations might restrict certain firearm types. For instance, some countries may ban assault weapons. Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States stand... [Yahoo! Finance, Web page, via GunPolicy.org]

Federal law doesn't require background checks on private gun sales, but 20 states have expanded background checks. There's perhaps no policy more central to the gun debate in the United States than background checks. A universal background check requirement is one of the most popular gun reform proposals, with dozens of polls finding that between 80 and 90 percent of Americans support the idea, including a majority of Republicans and gun owners. Despite that... [The Trace, Web page, via GunPolicy.org]

We've heard for years that there are more guns in the U.S. than people, but a precise accounting remains elusive. Federal legislation that would track gun sales or establish a nationwide handgun registry has been proposed — to much resistance from the gun lobby. In lieu of exact figures, we have examined gun owner surveys, industry disclosures, and federal gun background check figures, which provide insights, but are not comprehensive. Pinpointing the number of guns... [The Trace, Web page, via GunPolicy.org]

Cliff Hayes: "When you compare us to the European Union, we're something like 23 times more likely" to have homicides and handgun killings. PolitiFact's ruling: Mostly True Here's why: The day after six people died in a mass shooting at a Chesapeake Walmart, Virginia Del. Cliff Hayes Jr., D-Chesapeake, said the nation must discuss why it has so many "homicides and handgun killings." "When you compare us here in this country to the European Union, we're something like 23... [Austin American-Statesman (Texas), Web page, via GunPolicy.org]

- Only three countries in the world currently have a constitutional right to own a gun: the US, Mexico, and Guatemala. - Six other countries used to have a constitutional right to bear arms, but they've since repealed those laws. - The US is the only country with a right to keep and bear arms with no constitutional restrictions. The right to keep and bear arms is a longstanding, often glorified right protected by the US Constitution. Americans own nearly half of all... [Business Insider, via GunPolicy.org]

In 1957, the small-arms manufacturer Armalite created the AR-15—short for Armalite Rifle—at the invitation of the U.S. Army, which was seeking an effective lightweight combat weapon. When the Department of Defense reviewed a version of the rifle in 1962, during the early stages of the Vietnam War, its report stated that the gun's "lethality" and "reliability" were "particularly impressive." From forty-nine feet away, it noted, an Army Ranger fired a round into a... [New Yorker / The Trace, via GunPolicy.org]

Of 193 member states of the United Nations, Mexico has the fifth-largest number of unregistered firearms in civilian hands, behind the United States, India, China, and Pakistan.(1) This availability of firearms and the violence it enables have major destructive consequences. In Mexico, guns are the weapon of choice in 70 percent of total homicides and 60 percent of homicides committed against women. Guns are also the main tool in homicides of young people. Gun violence... [Arms Control Association, via GunPolicy.org]

Criminal gangs in Jamaica and Haiti are engaged in a deadly trade: the exchange of marijuana for guns. Boats loaded with up to 3,000 pounds of cannabis take off from Jamaica's coastline, speeding across the Caribbean to nearby Haiti, where the drugs are swapped for handguns and high-powered assault weapons. The boats return with the firearms, which are then sold off piecemeal or in bulk. The guns-for-drugs trade, as it is known in Jamaica, is greased by traffickers... [InSight Crime, via GunPolicy.org]

More soldiers… and more violence Although the deployment of soldiers has increased, homicides have not decreased in the country. In some states with a strong presence of organised crime, such as Durango, Michoacán and Guerrero, the number of soldiers has even decreased. The deployment of the military has increased during the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, but it has not counteracted the violence on Mexican territory, as the number of... [El Sol de México, via GunPolicy.org]

Houston leaders say they will no longer accept 3D-printed firearms, also known as ghost guns, at future gun buyback events after one man allegedly exchanged dozens of them over the weekend. "We're going to exclude those next time around," said Mayor Sylvester Turner. "This is a program designed for people who want to voluntarily relinquish their guns." On Saturday, city officials held their first gun buyback event in Houston. The mayor's office says more than 840... [Fox 26 Houston (Texas), via GunPolicy.org]

Haiti's Customs Agency has seized an extremely large quantity of illegally imported ammunition the same day that its director was replaced on suspicion of arms trafficking, highlighting the Caribbean nation's struggle in combating weapons flows. On July 1, customs and police authorities interdicted roughly 120,000 rounds of ammunition on board a container ship at Port-au-Paix wharf. The illegal cargo, which had come from the US state of Florida, was almost entirely... [InSight Crime, via GunPolicy.org]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House sent President Joe Biden the widest ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades Friday, a measured compromise that at once illustrates progress on the long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists. The Democratic-led chamber approved the election-year legislation on a mostly party-line 234-193 vote, capping a spurt of action prompted by voters' revulsion over last month's mass shootings in New York... [Associated Press, Web page, via GunPolicy.org]

Seizures of military-style assault weapons in the Dominican Republic are raising concerns that criminal groups are accessing powerful firearms smuggled from the United States and elsewhere. On May 26, Dominican customs and police authorities launched a sting operation to dismantle an arms trafficking ring smuggling weapons into the Caribbean nation from the United States, according to a news release by the nation's customs authority. During the raid at Haina Port,... [InSight Crime, via GunPolicy.org]

A man – almost always a man – commonly with no criminal history and no diagnosis of mental illness, armed with a lawfully obtained semiautomatic 'assault' weapon, kills and injures a large number of innocents in a place they imagined to be safe. It happens around the world, but horrifyingly more and more often in the United States, most recently in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York. To those of us who live in culturally similar nations, but where the... [CNN, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]

Among 64 high-income countries and territories, the United States stands out for its high levels of gun violence. The US ranks eighth out of 64 for homicides by firearm (age-adjusted). ​Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, two US territories, rank first and third on that list. Firearm injuries tend to be more frequent in places where people have easy access to firearms, according to findings from the 2018 Global Burden of Disease study published in the Journal of... [Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, via GunPolicy.org]

Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in US court to federal drug trafficking and firearms possession charges. The indictment in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York charges Hernández with cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. "As is charged in the indictment, Hernández abused his position as... [CNN, via GunPolicy.org]

The Ministry of National Defence (SEDENA) requested 671.4 million pesos from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) for the replacement of armaments in order to raise the morale of army troops and minimise the physical effort required to carry out their activities. According to the project's justification document, a public version of which can be consulted on the Treasury's investment portfolio website, the military agency's objective is to supply the... [El Sol de México, via GunPolicy.org]

CHICAGO, March 24, 2022 — Eighteen percent of U.S. households purchased a gun since the start of the pandemic (March 2020–March 2022), according to new survey data from NORC at the University of Chicago, increasing the percentage of U.S. adults living in a household with a gun to 46%. Over this period, one in 20 adults in America (5%) purchased a gun for the first time. According to the FBI, an average of 13 million guns were sold legally in the U.S. each year... [National Opinion Research Center, Web page, via GunPolicy.org]

The burnt-up wreckage of a Russian tank lies in the dirt, while in an accompanying photo next to it, a Ukrainian soldier carries the armaments said to have caused the destruction. The images posted to Twitter by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are labelled with a triumphant caption, declaring that this was the result of "hits from Javelins on [Russian] military equipment". The Javelin, a shoulder-held anti-tank weapon that shoots heat-seeking rockets hurtling towards... [BBC, via GunPolicy.org]