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The Scope and Implications of a Tracing Mechanism for Small Arms ...

The Scope and Implications of a Tracing Mechanism for Small Arms ...

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97<br />

In such cases, a new unique identifier can be applied on each weapon<br />

to replace the original. For example, all imported military small arms issued<br />

to the British armed <strong>for</strong>ces are given a replacement mark (regardless <strong>of</strong> the<br />

original manufacturer’s marks), <strong>and</strong> the following is provided as an<br />

illustration:<br />

B = Code <strong>for</strong> Country <strong>of</strong> Manufacture—Belgium<br />

L = UK Import Code<br />

88 = Year <strong>of</strong> Import—1988<br />

A000001 = Serial No.<br />

(Pro<strong>of</strong> Marks are added if the weapon originates from a non-CIP country).<br />

For the purposes <strong>of</strong> record-keeping in the UK, the import marks<br />

replace those <strong>of</strong> the manufacturer’s.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is a practice amongst some small arms manufacturers, <strong>for</strong><br />

example Fabrique Nationale (FN) Herstal, Belgium, to allow finished<br />

weapons to leave the factory without any identifying marks. <strong>The</strong>se weapons<br />

are manufactured <strong>for</strong> a particular export market where the importing<br />

country wishes to use its own marking system exclusively to identify the

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