INTRODUCTION

The authorized international trade in small arms and light weapons is diverse and dynamic, affecting every region of the world and all levels of society. Recreational hunters and other private individuals buy millions of imported rifles, shotguns, and rounds of ammunition each year. Millions of additional foreign-sourced weapons are procured by military and law enforcement agencies worldwide. Most of these weapons are used in accordance with national and international laws, but a small percentage is misused, poorly managed, or diverted, often with disastrous consequences. Yet, despite the profound implications of this trade, much of it remains opaque. Publicly available sources of data on international transfers of small arms and light weapons cover only a fraction of the total trade, and much of the data that is available is vague and incomplete. As a result, each year thousands of transfers of small arms and light weapons go unreported, and thousands more are inadequately documented. This lack of transparency hinders efforts to monitor arms transfers to problematic recipients and to identify the accumulation of excessively large or destabilizing stockpiles of weapons.

In 2009, the Small Arms Survey launched a four-year project aimed at enhancing our understanding of the authorized trade in small arms and light weapons, their parts, accessories, and ammunition. This chapter summarizes the findings from the fourth and final phase of the project, whose focus is on parts and accessories. Using these findings and those presented in previous phases of the project, the chapter provides a new global estimate for the annual value of the international authorized small arms trade (see Box 8.1).