大象传媒

Two stories of lives blighted by the rule of the gun - at war and during a supposed peace. In Honduras and El Salvador, Will Grant finds ample evidence that gun ownership, private security forces and rates of violence are all rocketing in Central America. In some places there are more privately-employed armed guards than state police forces; in others, innovative ideas to "increase the peace" are beginning to lose their shine as gang-related homicides creep back to earlier levels. In a town straddling the Turkish/Syrian border, Akcakale / Tel Abyad, Hannah Lucinda Smith meets refugees from the Syrian conflict who are now trapped in Turkey - yet metres from home. There's a long history of crossing the border to trade and work - but now these families can only look on helplessly as battle rages in their former homes.

Presenter: Pascale Harter. Produer: Polly Hope.

Photo: Police check weapons during a ceremony to surrender arms in donwntown San Salvador, on May 27, 2013. Jose CABEZAS/AFP/Getty Images