Small arms held by law enforcement agencies, while highly visible to the public, are relatively few in number in global terms.
Estimating Law Enforcement Firearms, a Research Note from the Small Arms Survey, shows the latest law enforcement firearms estimations for selected countries. It also discusses the principles and methodology for making these estimations, and reflects on differences in practices and culture relating to firearms.
Every year, several hundred individuals die or are injured as a result of unplanned explosions involving poorly maintained and badly managed ammunition stockpiles. While it is difficult to provide an accurate measure of the direct and indirect impacts of these explosive events on lives, livelihoods, housing, the environment, and development, the costs and consequences—in terms of health care, direct and indirect income loss, material damage, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), and environmental damage—are certainly severe.
Aging, excess, and unstable stockpiles of conventional weapons and munitions pose dual threats of illicit proliferation and accidental explosion, which could cause humanitarian disasters and destabilize individual countries or regions as a whole.
Buy and Burn: Factoring Demilitarization into Ammunition Procurement, compiled by the Small Arms Survey in support of the RASR Initiative, aims to increase participating states’ awareness of the future costs they will incur in disposing of the weapons and ammunition that they acquire today.
Many states view surplus weapons and ammunition as ‘money in the bank,’ securing them for future need or future resale.
Most of the world’s firearms are privately owned. In 2007 the Small Arms Survey estimated that civilians owned some 650 million of the world’s firearms, with armed forces owning around 200 million, and 26 million in the hands of law enforcement.
With the world’s factories delivering millions of newly manufactured firearms annually—far outnumbering those being destroyed—civilian ownership is growing in most countries. The highest national rate of civilian firearm ownership is in the United States, with at least 90 firearms per every 100 people.
Between January and October 2011 thirty-five unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS) were recorded globally, bringing the number of such events since 1998 to a total of 302, across 76 UN member states.
Maintaining defence and security sector weapons and munitions safely and securely is vital, not only for a country’s readiness to defend itself, but also for its internal safety and stability. Mismanaged or unstable stockpiles can potentially have serious consequences: weapons and ammunition stolen from storage depots have fuelled crime, rebellions, and wars; and old or unstable munitions have spontaneously combusted, destroying entire stockpiles while inflicting casualties, and damaging buildings and infrastructure.
The private security industry has come under considerable international scrutiny due to the highly publicized role it has played in Afghanistan and Iraq (2011).
More than 500 unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS) have occurred between 1979 and 2013 in 100 countries, covering 19 of the 22 UN-designated sub-regions. South-east Europe has been particularly affected, with seven countries in this sub-region accounting for over 10 per cent of the total number of events recorded during this 35-year period.