Fewer blanks: global firearm stockpiles

This paper is the second chapter of the Small Arms Survey Yearbook, 'Small Arms Survey 2003: development denied'. It provides information on the global prevalence and trade in small arms to present a picture of global trends and influences. It also analyses available data and trends for Europe, Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific region, providing breakdowns of the numbers of privately-held and government-held weapons, legal and illegal small arms, and current trends in demand and trade.

The chapter notes that information about small arms stockpiles is improving but in many countries remains limited and inaccurate.

Recognising the limitations of data, the findings for specific regions include:

• Europe has a high number of small arms and a variety of regimes for controlling them, and there is a steady illegal trade in small arms
• Europe has a high number of small arms and a variety of regimes for controlling them, and there is a steady illegal trade in small arms
• the demand for small arms in Africa is declining
• though the purchase of guns rose significantly in Israel in 2001 to 2002, the government maintains a strict control over small arms
• crime, rather than armed conflicts, is the main cause of violence involving small arms in Latin America.

The chapter reports that, overall, 11 September 2001 has not resulted in a significant expansion of global stockpiles. However, a range of national and international reforms and anti-terrorist measures have directly and indirectly contributed to better monitoring and enforcement of small arms regulations and international agreements. The report also finds that small arms activism and control efforts that began in the 1990s helped furnish governments with the policy framework and legal foundation on which to act. As a result of these factors, there appears to have been a slowing down of the transfer of small arms from one region to another.

Nevertheless, the report argues that:

• there is a need for better information about small arms stockpiles
• the distinction between legal and illegal small arms is not a useful one
• the most useful means of ensuring that arms are not misused is through better transparency and management
• currently there are inadequate processes and institutions in place to monitor and control the production and distribution of small arms.