Police must trawl through the social media accounts of people applying for firearms licences to prevent those with extremist views from having access to deadly weapons, a former Metropolitan Police chief has said.
The call comes as ministers were urged to classify men who espouse hatred towards women online as potential terrorist threats because they embrace a radical and dangerous ideology.
On Saturday night, Jake Davison, the misogynist gunman who went on a killing spree in Plymouth, was hailed on websites used by incels – involuntary celibates – as a “saint”. Others called for copycat killings on forums feared to be radicalising young boys as young as 13.
