• GUNSNorway and Finland Have Levels of Gun Ownership Similar to the U.S., but Far Less Gun Crime

    By Peter Squires

    The number of children killed by guns is 36.5 times higher in the U.S. compared to many other high-income countries. But in terms of the level of gun crimes more broadly – measured by examining the relationship between gun-ownership rates and gun violence — the U.S. is ranked 20th in the world, although all the countries ahead of it are much poorer and more conflicted. European societies similar to the U.S. in terms of gun owners per 100,000 people (but with hunting rifles and shotguns rather than handguns), such as Finland and Norway, are among the safest societies in Europe. Gun researchers now focus increasingly upon wider “gun control regimes” which have a big part to play in increasing or reducing levels of gun violence.  

  • MASS SHOOTINGAfter Mass Shootings Like Uvalde, National Gun Control Fails – but States Often Loosen Gun Laws

    By Christopher Poliquin

    Contrary to the view that nothing changes, state legislatures consider 15% more firearm bills the year after a mass shooting. Deadlier shootings – which receive more media attention – have larger effects. As impressive as this 15% increase in gun bills may sound, gun legislation can reduce gun violence only if it becomes law. And when it comes to enacting these bills into law, our research found that mass shootings do not regularly cause lawmakers to tighten gun restrictions. In fact, we found the opposite. Republican state legislatures pass significantly more gun laws that loosen restrictions on firearms after mass shootings.

  • AGE & GUN OWNERSHIPWhy 18-Year-Olds in Texas Can Buy AR-15s but Not Handguns

    By Kiah Collier and Jeremy Schwartz

    The massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, highlights disparities in how federal laws regulate rifles and handguns. The shooter bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday. 

  • AGE & GUN OWNERSHIPThe Buffalo and Uvalde Gunmen Bought Their Rifles Legally at 18

    By Jennifer Mascia

    Both teenage gunmen in the Buffalo and Uvalde mass-shootings acquired their rifles legally, through federally licensed dealers. Federal law allows people as young as 18 to buy long guns, including rifles and shotguns, and only a handful of states have enacted laws raising the minimum age to 21. There’s no federal minimum age for the possession of long guns, meaning it’s legal to give one to a minor in more than half the country.

  • WAR IN UKRAINEBreaking the Black Sea Blockade

    By Lawrence Freedman

    There is an aspect to Ukraine war which has received insufficient attention, though it is now slowly coming into focus and where pressure could build for a NATO operation. This is the need to relieve the blockade Russia has successfully inflicted on Ukraine’s southern ports in the Black Sea. This is urgent not only because of the effect on Ukraine’s battered economy but also on supplies of essential agricultural products to the rest of the world.

  • MASS SHOOTINGWhat We Know About Mass School Shootings in the U.S. – and the Gunmen Who Carry Them Out

    By James Densley and Jillian Peterson

    Most school shooters are motivated by a generalized anger. Their path to violence involves self-hate and despair turned outward at the world, and our research finds they often communicate their intent to do harm in advance as a final, desperate cry for help. The key to stopping these tragedies is for society to be alert to these warning signs and act on them immediately.

  • CHINA WATCHThe Meaning of Biden’s Big Shift on Taiwan

    By David Sacks

    The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) does not obligate the United States to directly intervene on Taiwan’s behalf. Instead, for four decades Washington has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity,” leaving unanswered the question of whether it would defend Taiwan. In moving away from strategic ambiguity, Biden made a long overdue adjustment to U.S. policy.

  • WAR IN UKRAINEIs Russia Using Laser Weapon in Ukraine

    By Monir Ghaedi

    Last Wednesday, a top Kremlin official said that Russia has deployed an advanced laser weapons system in combat in Ukraine. Laser weapons, if they are usable, could help Moscow against one of its main menaces in Ukraine: Drones. Several countries, including Russia, have been working on developing laser weapons, but experts say it is not clear whether Russia’s R&D efforts have so far yielded an operational weapon.

  • ACTIVE SHOOTERU.S. 'Active Shooter' Incidents Surged in 2021: FBI

    By Masood Farivar

    The FBI defines an active shooter as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” Amass shooting is typically defined as a shooting that involves four or more victims and can take place in public or private spaces. There were 61 “active shooter” incidents in the United States last year, an increase of more than 50% from 2020 and more than twice as many as five years ago, the FBI reported.

  • EXTREMISMBuffalo Attack Footage Spread Quickly Across Platforms, Has Been Online for Days

    The livestream of the accused Buffalo shooter’s deadly attack at a Buffalo supermarket was available briefly via Twitch, but the footage spread quickly across online platforms, and remains online for public consumption.

  • SEARCH & RESCUENext-Generation Search & Rescue: Body Cameras, Live Streaming

    Typically, search and rescue teams in the wilderness use radio, in-person briefings, text messaging, drones and paper forms to communicate and coordinate their efforts. New digital tools have the potential to revolutionize wilderness search and rescue efforts.

  • EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONLocal, Temporary 5G Network to Help Fight Forest Fires

    When it comes to activities such as fighting forest fires, monitoring construction sites or providing multimedia services at sports and other mass events, a reliable, secure 5G campus network is often needed locally and temporarily to ensure maximum network coverage on the entire site.

  • IRAN’S NUKESCodifying Support for Nuclear Inspections in Iran

    By David Albright

    The main obstacle for a new nuclear deal with Iran is Iran’s disregard of its safeguards commitments and defiance of standard International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) procedures are more problematic for a nuclear deal. Resolving those outstanding inspection issues offers a far more promising pathway to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons in the long run.

  • HATE CRIMESDOJ Steps Up Hate Crime Prosecutions

    By Masood Farivar

    DOJ says that with hate crimes on the rise, U.S. federal prosecutors have charged more than 40 people with bias-motivated crimes since January 2021, obtaining over 35 convictions.

  • MASS SHOOTINGThe Buffalo Shooting Suspect Once Threatened a Mass Shooting. Why Wasn’t He Disarmed?

    By Jennifer Mascia

    The Buffalo mass shooter was taken into custody by police last June after he threatened to carry out a shooting at his Western New York high school. He was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and released a couple of days later. None of that prevented him from buying a gun, or keeping the ones he already owned. New York has a red flag law, but it wasn’t invoked.