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

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Though such systems have great promise, tracing cooperation among
law enforcement agencies remains quite patchy in practice. Interpol is
basically a facilitating organization; its value to members depends on their
capacity to use it. Developed countries tend to use Interpol channels and
resources more regularly than others. Yet, even in these countries, police
authorities prefer bilateral contacts where these are established.
The infrastructure required for effective weapons tracing is not
particularly expensive. For example, the cost of the US NTC—by far the
largest such centre in the world—is approximately US$15 million per year,
plus an additional US$5 million to support major projects. However,
experience shows that effective tracing does require a significant investment
of resources and attention in certain key areas, even after basic
infrastructure is in place.
Tracing must be reliable and timely. Law enforcement officials typically
face acute time constraints in their pursuit of specific criminal investigations.
They must have reasonable confidence that weapons traces will be
satisfactorily completed within the lifespan of an active investigation before
they will give them much attention. For this reason, it is important to move
beyond “bare bones” tracing systems to ones in which records are
computerized and access to them by law enforcement officials is facilitated
through simple electronic links and at least some degree of centralization.
Awareness-raising and resources are also needed to encourage law
enforcement officers to conduct weapons traces systematically, so that the
information needed to identify patterns and trends in sources and lines of
supply is available. Developing and sharing law enforcement data going
beyond the specific trace (for example, recovery location, possessor,
associates, dealers) can allow links to be spotted and contribute to crime
prevention and enforcement. The development of systems for web-based
record-keeping and tracing, which are also interoperable with such other
record-keeping systems as fingerprint and DNA databases, also appears
increasingly desirable and feasible. 38
Where tracing systems are reasonably well-established, the most
common reason for their failure appears to be inaccuracies in the
identification and description of the relevant weapon. This demonstrates
the need for accurate, comprehensive and easily accessible reference
materials, such as Canada’s Firearms Reference Table, discussed above,