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

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that a weapon is the proceeds of an illicit transfer. The principle should be
that if there is no valid entry in the national record-keeping system to
account for a weapon being in the country in which it is recovered, then it
must be illicit.
However, where the integrity of national records is questionable,
establishing whether a weapon is in fact illicit is not a straightforward
procedure and detailed tracing is required just to establish its provenance
in the country. Unless more recent import marks can shorten the enquiry,
then tracing may have to start right back at the manufacturer. Lessons in
tracing have been learned by the South African Police Service (SAPS) during
their Firearm Tracing Pilot Project. The SAPS identified that the
methodology required in tracing involves a series of steps, and the first two
are critical: identification and status (legal or illicit), as shown here: 17
Steps (i) to (vii):
(i) Correct Identification of the weapon;
(ii) Establish the Status of the Firearm—ownership and responsibility for
control;
(iii) Determine the Origin of a Firearm through tracing manufacturer and
previous ownership (life history or provenance);
(iv) Identify point of Diversion or Loss from licit market, which also needs
to be investigated;
(v) Determine the Chain of Possession since diversion or loss;
(vi) Determine the possible Criminal Use before and after diversion or
loss;
(vii) Reassess the Evidential Value of the weapon as an exhibit in a criminal
investigation.
It is important to view the two principle reasons for tracing
(prosecution and/or disruption) as separate activities. The first sets out with
the objective of dismantling the trafficking network and prosecuting those
concerned; the second follows where the former is not achievable or
unlikely to succeed and a compromise measure is needed.
It has proved more cost effective for countries, like the UK and US, to
develop techniques borrowed from disrupting drug trafficking networks,
which focus on upstream intervention rather than wait for contraband to
reach its intended destination and then arrest. The objective being to