By Jonathan McClory, Dr Bob Golding; Edited by Gavin Lockhart

Murders involving knives and firearms never fail to grab the headlines, yet they are relatively rare. Gun crime represents only 0.4% of all recorded crime in England and Wales. The public are often sceptical, however, when they read figures such as this – and they have reason to be so.

Going Ballistic’s findings support four primary arguments: that official crime figures do not reflect the experiences of many communities in England and Wales; that information and intelligence sharing between agencies is lacking; that early intervention and prevention work needs to be targeted and expanded and that the relevant legislation governing gun and knife crime is a mess.