About
Titled “Mapping the Transnational Circulation and Control of Small Arms in Latin America”, this project tries to answer three questions:
How do small arms and light weapons (SALW), specifically military-style firearms, circulate in Latin America?
How do different types of arms flow legally and illegally across national borders?
What are the main challenges for controlling these flows?
The funds provided by the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS), allowed us to assemble a team of experts from Switzerland, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico to zoom into the circulation of military-style firearms. The project defines military-style firearms as semi-automatic and fully automatic long guns with rifled barrels of certain calibres (such as 7.62 x 39 mm, 5.45 x 39 mm, 5.56 x 45mm, .223 Rem 7,62 x 54 mmR, or 7.62 x 51 mm) as well as machine guns.
First, the project gathers data on legal and illegal transnational flows of military-style firearms, drawing from various national and international sources.
Second, based on this data, the social, economic, and political dynamics entailed by those flows are analysed to explore questions such as:
The relative significance of military-style firearms as a category of SALW, analyzing their production, circulation, impacts, and cultural insertion in connection with the study of violent patterns in the region.
The political economy of flows involving state, non-state, and hybrid actors at various stages of this circulation, from weapons production to their use.
Third, the sociocultural dynamics that surround the perception of such weapons and that foster their proliferation among state and non-state actors are examined through an analysis of digital social interaction.
Finally, the project maps the control norms that regulate the transnational circulation of SALW in Latin America. It gathers and analyzes data on the adoption, incorporation and implementation of international and regional norms and national legislation regarding legal and illegal transnational flows, identifying main challenges and opportunities for bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
