Pathway to Policy: Firearms Trafficking and Public Health in the Caribbean
The Caribbean region continues to suffer from high levels of firearm-related violence, with worrying developments that include the recruitment of children and adolescents into armed gangs, shootings in hospitals, and a surge in gang violence. Most of the weapons seized from perpetrators of these and other crimes are handguns, but recent data reveals a rise in trafficking of AR- and AK-pattern rifles and large-capacity magazines to some Caribbean countries.