Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones

Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones

Sexed Pistols: The Gendered Impacts of Prolific Small Arms

Sexed Pistols: The Gendered Impacts of Prolific Small Arms E day, small arms and light weapons (salw) kill, maim, wound and threaten millions of adults and children. The victims are combatants and civilians in war zones or communities in degraded “peacetime” environments characterized by large-scale criminal or political violence, and can also be found in “societies at peace” where SALW may be ...

Weapons Tracing and Peace Support Operations: Theory or Practice?

Introduction Weapons tracing is a set of methods used to identify weapons and ammunition and track their origins. It has an established role in criminal investigations, where it is typically used not only to prove a firearm-related offence, but also to uncover the source of illicit supplies to criminals. By contrast, weapons tracing in conflict and post-conflict situations—for example, by peace...

Captain of a Ship of Fools on a Cruel Sea: How European Union Leadership May Sink the Proposed Arms Trade Treaty

The past century experienced a marked increase in armed conflict from Europe to the farthest parts of Southeastern Asia. At the heart of modern conflict is a particular class of weaponry—small arms and light weapons. Commentators have noted that small arms and light weapons have become widely used by groups involved in conflict; particularly, groups utilizing asymmetric warfare tactics. For exa...

Caught in the Crossfire: The Humanitarian Impacts of Small Arms

4 155 Amidst all of the debate about controlling the proliferation and misuse of small arms, there is a glaring, fundamental omission—the human face. Research and policy tends to focus on supply-related issues such as production and the mismanagement of stockpiles, interstate transfers and the illicit trade, technical aspects of weapons tracing, marking, collection and destruction, and on legal...