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

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71 weapons belonging to illicit circuits. The exchange of information and collaboration among States is thus made more difficult when it comes to tracing these weapons. It is equally noteworthy that searching through the different files—which are sketchy, disparate, or even in certain cases nonexistent—makes tracing operations cumbersome. The marking methods proposed must thus be applicable to the weapons currently on the market. So far, the majority of these weapons pose a problem for police forces, given that they are involved in all sorts of trafficking activities and illicit circles (drugs, money laundering, etc.). The absence of marking and monitoring of certain weapons encourages them to be used fraudulently, and makes them even more difficult to identify. To avoid this type of situation, a standard imposing the marking of firearm components during the manufacturing process must be included in marking standards. The problem of antique weapons is a topical one. Data from the BATF shows some interesting trends. The percentage of failures among the BATF’s tracing operations demonstrates that, in spite of the technological advances of the past few years, certain weapons are still either difficult or impossible to trace since they have not been included in any registers. The BATF furthermore has compiled a list of weapons that can no longer be traced, dubbed: too old to trace. 22 This label comprises weapons dating back to the beginning of the last century, for which it is impossible to consult a register. Note that the BATF does not trace weapons that date from before 1990 because of the lack of registers necessary for tracing operations. 23 This is why the technical (intrinsic) elements and the intelligence/investigative (extrinsic) elements are necessary to a tracing operation and should be integrated into these files. To conclude on the problem of old weapons, the Small Arms Survey has also highlighted that all the innovations relating to the tracing process “tended to be more effective with the registration of new weapons and to ignore the stockpile of old weapons with no licence or registration”. 24 Registration, like marking, is an indispensable element in tracing operations. In this context, the Canadian example shows that the majority of handguns involved in criminal affairs had not been registered (see Table 5).
72 Table 5: Handgun registration according to case type 25 Registered handguns Unregistered handguns Cases of a general nature % Cases of weapons found % Type of case unknow % 30.3 47.9 35.5 69.7 52.1 64.5 It is clear, then, that statistics can do much to help identify the weapons that are being traced. The BATF example highlights interesting examples in this respect. A study carried out by Kopel 26 has revealed that assault weapons were the most commonly traced because of their morphology, which is evocative of war and war crimes, as against traditional revolvers such as the Smith & Wesson, which are commonly found in any worthy collection. It is important to emphasize that the statistics of the BATF are not representative of weapon-related crime for several reasons. First, no weapons manufactured before 1990 are traced because of the absence of existing registers for these weapons. Moreover, the weapons that are traced are in fact traced not in the context of criminal investigations linked to serious crimes or offences, but rather in the context of simple checks for legal or illegal arms possession, for the most part. Let us recall that arms and ammunition manufacturers are free to make whatever marks they wish on their products as there are no standard rules governing this area. The experts therefore find themselves faced with (1) weapons that may have no marks, (2) weapons with duplicated numbers, or simply (3) weapons that are not registered. It is interesting to note that in Switzerland, there is no national database to speak of which records all the weapons available on the market; this is an impediment to the data exchange necessary for the tracing process to work well. In this respect, the Swiss daily newspaper 24 heures (23-24 February 2002, p. 17) estimates that more than 420,000 Swiss citizens have a military weapon (such as the 1990 assault rifle) in their homes, but giving a precise figure is a difficult task as there is no relevant centralized register. In this case, how can one
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UNIDIR/2002/20 The Scope and Implic
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CONTENTS Page Preface. . . . . . .
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v Chapter 4 Structures and Institut
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viii point of diversion, thus inhib
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ACRONYMS ATFUS BATF BPA CFR CFR CIC
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xiii VIN WFSA WIES WR Vehicle Ident
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2 and lines of supply of illicit SA
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4 First, if a weapon has been invol
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6 The UN Programme of Action includ
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8 1.3 MARKING 1.3.1 Introduction A
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10 uniquely identify each productio
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12 • Ensure, at the time of trans
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14 • increasing the resistance of
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16 The UN Firearms Protocol, in its
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18 component of this project is to
Page 33 and 34: 20 They clarify whether a weapon is
Page 35 and 36: 22 Though such systems have great p
Page 37 and 38: 24 have a more prominent role to pl
Page 39 and 40: 26 That said, national intelligence
Page 41 and 42: 28 training and technical assistanc
Page 43 and 44: 30 This highlights one of the most
Page 45 and 46: 32 An international tracing mechani
Page 47 and 48: 34 Some of the necessary elements a
Page 49 and 50: 36 on sources and lines of supply o
Page 51 and 52: 38 In promoting international assis
Page 53 and 54: 40 3 Programme of Action to Prevent
Page 55 and 56: 42 25 This section draws on discuss
Page 58 and 59: 45 BIBLIOGRAPHY Berkol, Ilhan, Mark
Page 60 and 61: CHAPTER 2 WHAT TO MARK AND WHAT TO
Page 62 and 63: 49 tracing method for all SALW (con
Page 64 and 65: 51 Figure 2: : The different sub-ca
Page 66 and 67: 53 In order to better grasp the pro
Page 68 and 69: 55 SALW include weapons of war, def
Page 70 and 71: 57 The following questions should t
Page 72 and 73: 59 All of this data, while useful f
Page 74 and 75: 61 2.5 WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR IN
Page 76 and 77: 63 traced, but which ones? Precisel
Page 78 and 79: 65 Table 1: Firearms recovered in c
Page 80 and 81: 67 explosives belts and dozens of t
Page 82 and 83: 69 This data provides an interestin
Page 86 and 87: 73 imagine being able to effectivel
Page 88 and 89: 75 case of Switzerland, it would be
Page 90 and 91: 77 electronics in animal identifica
Page 92 and 93: 79 based our reflection on goals fo
Page 94 and 95: 81 10 Small Arms Survey, Annuaire s
Page 96 and 97: APPENDIX 1 83
Page 98 and 99: APPENDIX 3 85
Page 100: 87 the army weapon is capable of au
Page 103 and 104: 90 significance, hence in general t
Page 105 and 106: 92 3.1.2 Sanitization Removal or ob
Page 107 and 108: 94 Chinese Type 56-1 Unique Identif
Page 109 and 110: 96 verify that the imported weapons
Page 111 and 112: 98 weapons. There are risks involve
Page 113 and 114: 100 China Type 56 Russia AK47 Russi
Page 115 and 116: 102 channels, with the protection o
Page 117 and 118: 104 3.1.9 Comments Countries seekin
Page 119 and 120: 106 as a result, potentially tip-of
Page 121 and 122: 108 2. All markings must be made pe
Page 123 and 124: 110 shared encryption standard. The
Page 125 and 126: 112 Domestic record-keeping varies
Page 127 and 128: 114 Nevertheless, whilst the Wassen
Page 129 and 130: 116 individual weapon, should as a
Page 131 and 132: 118 • “Consolidation”—4 x 2
Page 133 and 134: 120 With the scope of the Protocol
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122 The South African authorities a
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124 • (Tracing) Details of all st
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126 tracing Chinese weapons. Conseq
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128 circulating information by fax
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130 Tracing requests are normally c
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132 encourage countries along the t
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134 close enough to provide adequat
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136 3. If Interpol is not up to the
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138 which restrict the amount of in
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140 9 It was notable during negotia
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142
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144 There are other reasons as well
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146 Laws Firearms are a durable com
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148 This last point should not be u
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150 the future a firearm tracing qu
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152 There are several important ele
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154 Canada, nearly all transfers re
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156 accuracy and man-hour effective
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158 industry practices. An effectiv
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160
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162 manner in national (and possibl
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164 routine stockpile management. A
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166 International regulations on th
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168 2. The definitions of weapons,
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170 enable national authorities to
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172 serial number of the firearm. T
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174 9. Explosives: the recommendati
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176 • The States parties undertak
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178 • The following is establishe
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180 International regulations on th
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182 • The participating States ag
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184 The Convention on Plastic Explo
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186 5.3.1 European Joint Action The
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188 years in July 2001. In December
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190 • States must make efforts to
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192 a greater degree of harmonizati
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194 this may lead to the undesirabl
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196 28 Or at least difficult or imp
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198 49 Speech by Mr. Koffi Adjouman
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200 in its capacity as President of
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202 Table 1: Scope of the Seven Pri
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204 Table 1 (continued) Characteris
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206 Characteristics of the marking
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208 Characteristics of the marking
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210 Characteristics of the recordke
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212 Characteristics of the record-k
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214 Table 4: Comparison of the Stan
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216 Characteristics of the exchange
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218
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