gun trafficking – the facts

The Black-Market Trade in small arms and light weapons today sustains terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal and underage pornography and conflict around the world. In balance, these individual resources of funding and demand for the items sustain one another. To moralize or accept any one of these fields is to justify and fund the others also.
 
Due to this, massive areas of the World have become almost uninhabitable and provide a breeding ground for fear and threat to millions of civilians, children, relief workers, development workers, and peacekeepers.

The ‘underground’ wars that fuel these industries claimed over 1 million people in the 90’s alone, with over 90% of casualties being made up of civilians. This of course, destroys the very infrastructure that these areas economies are based on, and in 1995 alone over 41 million people were displaced mainly as a result of war and political repression. Incredibly, this number is still increasing, and has grown by almost 60% in the past decade.

In 2003 black market banks made in excess of 93 billion in loans. Again, this is part of the chain reaction created from the user-based markets mentioned above.

There are over 600,000,000 small arms & light weapons in circulation around the World at this moment. Almost 250,000,000 are in the U.S. alone, enough for every man, woman, & child. Europe has over 84,000,000 & Africa has over 30,000,000.

Over 90 countries produce these weapons from over 200 factories. Some are in the UK right now. Many Governments are hand in glove with these factories, both illegal & legal, helping them to distribute & setting up ‘Arms Shows’ to tempt other countries to purchase their own weapons. Why do they do this? Simple, because the total arms trade is worth about 4 billion on the legal side & 1 billion in the black market.

Despite having the least percentage of weapons from the above figures, it is countries such as Africa that suffer the most from this reckless abundance of small arms. Their Wars don’t involve high-end politics & so are generally ignored by the World’s public & Governments, even though hundreds of thousands of people are being killed by them.

Even kids are forced to take part in their wars, with children being made pliable by being introduced to drugs & alcohol (combinations of cocaine & gunpowder is a regular occurrence) & are given fake assurances by being gifted medallions & charms that they are told are sacred & will protect them. They are then given weapons & recruited.

Due to the increase in these pre-teen ‘soldiers’ & rebels, their enemies have had to rethink they’re style of combat. In many cases creating abominations such as landmines disguised as toys & cuddlies in order to lure the unsuspecting children.

Between the ‘Arms Shows’ & under-the-table dealings, Governments such as the U.S. & ourselves manage to sell our weaponary to countries that eventually end up using them upon us, forcing us to then create newer, more devastating weapons to counter-attack our previous designs that we have set upon ourselves simply for the money.