This blog post was published as part of the Global Partnership on Small Arms project, which was managed by the Small Arms Survey and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The Global Partnership on Small Arms was a platform where stakeholders engaged in reducing or preventing illicit arms trafficking were able to interact; exchange information, experience, and knowledge; and give feedback to further their shared goals.

'Europe and the UK along with it, have some of the strictest laws regarding the possession of firearms. However, this alone does not stop the use of firearms in crime; partly due to the prevalence of modified and converted firearms seen throughout the continent which are being used by criminals, from gang-related street violence to terror attacks...'

'Au printemps 2020, je me suis rendu à Conakry, en Guinée, pour présenter, en marge d’une conférence, les résultats d’une étude sur le monitoring des armes à feu en Guinée. À cette occasion, j’avais prévu de rester sur place pour dispenser à l’équipe de l’unité régionale de police scientifique de la gendarmerie un module de formation à la balistique judiciaire. La pandémie de COVID-19 en a décidé autrement, et m’a amené à donner à distance cette formation sur laquelle je reviendrai plus en détail...'

'The International Tracing Instrument (ITI) was adopted in 2005 and outlines requirements for tracing illicit small arms and light weapons in a timely and reliable manner. Since the time of its adoption, however, some new methods in design and manufacture of small arms and light weapons have emerged that pose new challenges in terms of marking and tracing.

'Craft-produced weapons pose a challenge to arms control efforts. The fourth panel of the Small Arms Survey 2020 online forum ‘Taking stock of action on the illicit small arms trade’ hosted a discussion on research findings on craft weapons, measures to address the problem, results of such actions, and recommendations for moving forward...'

'Ukraine has a grenade problem. In recent years, thousands of the inexpensive, easy-to-use weapons have found their way into the hands of criminals and other unauthorized end-users throughout the country. The wayward grenades are part of a broader problem of illicit proliferation of small arms, light weapons, and their ammunition that has plagued Ukraine since Russian-backed separatists launched their uprising in 2014.

'About half an hour before their shift was due to end, on 18 November 2005, Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky and her colleague Police Constable Teresa Millburn responded to reports of an activated panic alarm at a travel agency in Bradford, West Yorkshire. As the two walked into the store, PC Beshenivsky was shot and killed at point-blank range.

'Small-calibre Ammunition in Libya: An Update', a new online Dispatch from the Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project, examines a 21 examples of small-calibre ammunition documented in Libya in 2011, 2012, and 2013, building on the results documented in Working Paper 16, The Headstamp Trail: An Assessment of Small-calibre Ammunition Found in Libya.   

After Kalashnikov-pattern rifles, Fusil Automatique Léger (FAL) rifles were among the most frequently sighted firearms during the 2011 armed conflict in Libya.

The FAL rifle was originally designed and manufactured at the Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre Herstal (FN Herstal), in Belgium,  and was dubbed ‘the right arm of the free world’ during the cold war. Since its release in 1954 it has undergone several modifications and was adopted by a number of countries, some of which also manufactured it under licence.

Arms and ammunition are evidence. Many weapons carry marks that, combined with their physical characteristics, reveal important information about them, including their manufacturer, age, and origin. This information, in turn, provides vital clues about the sources and flows of weapons in the area in which they were found.