18 June, 2024

New Situation Update on privately made firearms in the Caribbean

The rate of violent deaths in the Caribbean remains well above the world average. Trafficking—including of firearm parts used to build privately made firearms (PMFs)—remains the primary source of small arms seized in the region. PMFs in the Caribbean vary widely in sophistication. Given their low cost and the increasingly diverse ways in which key firearm components can be acquired or produced—including through the use of 3D-printing and CNC-milling technology—PMFs have the potential to become a significant threat. The circulation of conversion devices also increases the likelihood that significantly more rounds will be fired during criminal shootings, which may in turn increase the risk of multiple injuries, including among bystanders.

Dangerous Devices: Privately Made Firearms in the Caribbean—a new Situation Update by the Small Arms Survey and its partners CARICOM IMPACS, CARPHA, and GA-CDRC at the University of the West Indies—examines the latest trends and developments regarding PMFs, their production and circulation in the Caribbean region, and calls for more in-depth data collection on these types of weapons to help tackle this threat to security and public health. The Situation Update was launched at the side event ‘A Public Health Crisis: Small Arms Trafficking and Violence in the Caribbean,’ held on 18 June 2024 on the margins of the Fourth Review Conference of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.

Read: Dangerous Devices: Privately Made Firearms in the Caribbean

For more, check out:

Road to RevCon4: A Public Health Crisis—Small Arms Trafficking and Violence in the Caribbean (June 2024)—a podcast episode where the Survey's Mark Downes sits down with Dr Joy St John, the executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the former Assistant Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), to discuss small arms trafficking and violence in the Caribbean as a public health crisis, and how this all ties into PoA discussions on the linkages between small arms trafficking and development.
Weapons Compass: The Caribbean Firearms Study (April 2023)—a joint report from the Small Arms Survey and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) that examines firearm holdings, illicit arms and ammunition, trafficking patterns and methods, and the socio-economic costs of firearm-related violence in the region
Tackling Armed Domestic Violence in the Caribbean and Central America (March 2023)—a blog post that analyses domestic violence and firearms legislation of countries in these regions
The Small Arms Survey’s Pathway to Policy in Caribbean project page
Caribbean outputs in our Resource Library

Other news from the Survey: