Bill Bratton, the once famous Police Commissioner in New York and Los Angeles, is the only US veteran police leader often cited in the UK media, partly due to his influence on UK police leaders.

On the 18th the WSJ published an article based on speaking to him: 'William Bratton: The Real Cures for Gun Violence':http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...614388346.html

Mr. Bratton predicts that "the most successful focus is going to be on the licensing and background checks. Because that's the heart of the problem—who gets access to the guns?...Clearly a large number of people who shouldn't have firearms actually apply through the process and obtain firearms." He also argues that Congress ought to confirm a permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for the first time since 2006.

But the gun reform that truly gets Mr. Bratton fired up is one you don't hear much about these days. It is what he calls "certainty of punishment," or stricter gun-crime sentences.