AMMUNITION TRACING PROTOCOLS A Guide to Safe, Responsible, Evidence-based Ammunition Tracing

The protocols are designed for use in a variety circumstances. They are formulated in this way because access to information differs significantly according to local circumstances—in particular, local security dynamics. Some studies may be able generate detailed background information on the trade in ammunition and report on patterns of acquisition by specific groups. Other studies may only be in a position to record the types of ammunition found in a particular location or following a violent event. Regardless of circumstances, however, almost all ammunition tracing information is useful. Whether complete or partial, it contributes to the global understanding of ammunition proliferation. But different circumstances of ammunition tracing impose different limits on what can be deduced from the data, and these protocols explain what those limits are.