Reducing the Threat of Arms and Munitions in the Americas.

• Author: Case, Carl E.
• Position: Essay

In many parts of the Americas, the threat of armed violence to citizens is a phenomenon appearing in news headlines on a far too regular basis. In large measure, this threat is magnified by relatively easy access to illegal firearms, ammunition, and even explosives. In many cases, these items are remnants of past conflicts that continue to contribute to instability and insecurity throughout the hemisphere.

The linkage of illicit manufacturing, sale and distribution of firearms, munitions, and explosive material with drug trafficking, terrorism, transnational organized crime, and other criminal enterprises has been well established, and the magnitude of the problem is significant. A 2006 study by the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress estimated that there were some 2.85 million illegal firearms in Central America, which means that there is more than one for every sixteen people living in the region. The human toll inflicted by the illegal use of firearms has been enormous in many countries. According to the InterAmerican Observatory on Security, six of the American states reported this past decade that more than 65 percent of homicides occurring in their countries involved the use of firearms. Each year, government security and police forces seize tens of thousands of illegal firearms but often lack the capacity to mark, trace and destroy these weapons in a systematic fashion. Not only do many weapons found in the illicit markets originate in legal transactions, but in some cases, firearms used to commit crimes are obtained through legal international arms transfers.

To further complicate the problem of citizen safety there is the issue of large quantities of arms and ammunition which are legally held by armed forces, police or other state and private entities, a situation that becomes particularly dangerous when these stockpiles are inadequately stored, managed, or secured. Large stores of expired or obsolete conventional ammunition and explosives are not only subject to illegal transfer and trafficking, but they also pose a significant danger to the surrounding communities. In recent years there have been tragic incidents involving fires, human error, lightning, unstable propellants or explosives, and sabotage that have caused devastating damage and casualties in neighboring communities, requiring substantial clean-up and costly repair efforts.

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Taking Action

Amid a growing awareness of the need to address...