LONDON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. guns are flowing into Latin America in an "iron river" ending in the hands of drug cartels and abusive security forces, British media have reported.

More than half of "crime guns" recovered and traced in Central America are sourced from the United States, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing numbers from U.S. gun control agency ATF.

This level nears 70 percent for Mexico and is around 80 percent across the Caribbean, said the report.

Meanwhile, BBC reported that gun violence is a highly political issue, pitting gun control advocates against people who are fiercely protective of their right to bear arms.

The number of mass shootings has gone up significantly in recent years, said BBC, citing figures from the Gun Violence Archive -- a non-profit research database. There have been at least 160 mass shootings across the United States so far this year.

In each of the last three years, there have been more than 600 mass shootings, almost two a day on average, said the report.