• Police detonates explosive device sent to George Soros’s NY home

    The New York police said that a package containing an explosive device has been found in a mailbox outside the New York residence of billionaire financier George Soros. Soros, a Hungary-born billionaire, has become one of the world’s biggest funder of politically and socially liberal groups and causes. He has become a hate figure for right-wing movements in the United States and eastern Europe, and the target of a hostile, even anti-Semitic media and political campaign by the nationalist government of Victor Orban in his native Hungary.

  • The Far Right and reciprocal radicalization

    Could fragmentation within the Far-Right contribute to increasingly extreme responses to Islamist terrorism? There is increasing evidence of instrumental responses from some of the most extreme groups, which seek to encourage the strategic use of violence.

  • Terror attacks in U.K. fueling surge in hate crimes

    Terror attacks have helped drive up the number of hate crimes in England and Wales with spikes in the aftermath of incidents, Home Office official figures published today show. The number of offenses recorded by police jumped following the terror attack by Khalid Masood at Westminster last year. Hate crime incidents continued to rise in May and June after terrorists attacked the Manchester Arena and London Bridge. The increases reflect a trend which has been evident for some years.

  • Anxiety surrounding mass shootings closes ideological divides -- briefly

    People who feel anxious surrounding mass shootings tend to abandon their political ideology on typically divided issues, according to a study. Yet policymakers — especially those seeking gun law reforms trying to stem the number of mass shootings — in recent years have largely failed to capitalize on attitudes surrounding this type of anxiety.

  • More evidence dossier did not start Russia investigation

    ABC News’ latest reporting corroborates the now well-known fact: The Christopher Steele’s dossier was not the impetus for the FBI’s Russia investigation.

  • Gun owners are more politically active: study

    American gun owners in recent years have exhibited higher levels of political participation, not only in voting but in donating money to candidates and contacting elected officials, according to a new study. “Part of the reason majority opinions on gun control legislation aren’t turning into policy is that gun owners are a very strong political group who hold a lot of weight and hold a lot of influence despite being a minority in American politics,” said one researcher.

  • Global gun deaths reach 250,000 annually: Study

    A study conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has found that there are a quarter of a million gun deaths globally yearly. It says gun deaths are “a major public health problem for humanity.” The JAMA study notes that of the 250,000 annul gun deaths, almost two-thirds were homicides. The United States, home to 4 percent of the world’s population, accounted for more than a third of its gun suicides in 2016.

  • Blocked from giving away 3D-printed gun blueprints, Texas man says he's selling them instead

    An Austin resident and self-described “crypto-anarchist” said Tuesday he’ll begin selling blueprints that would allow users to 3D print their own plastic guns — a day after a federal judge extended a temporary block preventing him from making the plans available on the web for free. In other words: If he can’t be the “Napster” of crypto-guns, he’ll be the “iTunes,” Wilson told reporters at a press conference Tuesday in Austin.

  • Disproportionate killing of black men by police

    Bad policing, bad law, not “bad apples”: Killings of unarmed black men by white police officers across the nation have garnered massive media attention in recent years, raising the question: Do white law enforcement officers target minority suspects? An extensive, new national study reveals some surprising answers. Analysis of every use of deadly force by police officers across the United States indicates that the killing of black suspects is a police problem, not a white police problem, and the killing of unarmed suspects of any race is extremely rare.

  • Militarization of police fails to enhance safety, may damage police reputation

    This month marks the four-year anniversary of protests over the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, an incident met with a heavily armed police response that stoked widespread concern. While proponents say militarized police units enhance officer safety and prevent violence, critics argue these tactics are targeted at racial minorities, and diminish trust between citizens and law enforcement.

  • Black Americans are still victims of hate crimes more than any other group

    James Byrd Jr., who was dragged to death in Texas 20 years ago, became one of the namesakes for a 2009 federal law expanding hate crime legislation. But just 100 hate crimes have been pursued by federal prosecutors between January 2010 and July 2018.

  • Violence in U.S. cities: Mixed, but optimistic, picture

    Violence has fallen in nearly all major U.S. cities since 1991, but recent fluctuations in violence in selected cities point to temporary disruptions in this 17-year decline. “American cities are much safer than they were in the early 1990s,” says one researcher. “While violence rose in many cities from 2014 to 2017, the most recent data indicate that, overall, cities have turned a corner and this recent rise in violence may have come to an end.”

  • Murder rates highest in countries lacking due process

    Governments that do the best job protecting the rights of the accused have the lowest murder rates, while those that neglect due process have the highest, according to a new study. “This study suggests that how the government treats people in its effort to provide security matters,” says one researcher. “When there is a lack of trust in the state, people tend to take matters into their own hands and there are real-world consequences.”

  • Blocked from distributing plans for 3D-printed guns, "crypto-anarchist" is still in the DIY gun business

    Cody Wilson’s group Defense Distributed is known for attempting to upload the digital blueprints for 3D-printed guns. But he also helps customers make unregistered, unserialized conventional firearms, from Glocks to AR-15s.

  • The Las Vegas mass shooter had 13 rifles outfitted with bump stocks. He used them to fire 1,049 rounds.

    The Las Vegas Police Department on Friday concluded its investigation into the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival, which claimed the lives of 58 people and left more than 800 injured. The report includes a detailed accounting and forensic analysis of the significant arsenal recovered from the gunman’s hotel room. The police recovered 18 rifles and a handgun. Thirteen rifles were outfitted with bump stocks, the aftermarket devices that allow semiautomatic weapons to mimic the rate of fire of an automatic rifle. The gunman used all but one of those bump stock-equipped rifles during his deadly attack. With the aid of the devices, the gunman unleashed a total of 1,049 rounds at the crowd below.