Reckless and illegal arms supplies from Europe, Africa and China to the warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire over the past decade continue to fuel grave human rights abuses and violent crime in the country, Amnesty International said in a detailed report launched at the United Nations (UN) headquarters. The 33-page report, Communities shattered by arms proliferation and abuse in Côte d'Ivoire, documents how a handful of states and a network of multinational arms... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW YORK — As icons go, few things communicate global menace more effectively than the stark silhouette of an AK-47. Designed more than six decades ago by Mikhail Kalashnikov, a former Soviet tank commander, the assault rifle boasts the dubious distinction of being the most abundant and reliable killing device in history. "In much of the world they are everyman's gun," the New York Times foreign correspondent C.J. Chivers wrote in "The Gun," his 2010 social history... (GunPolicy.org)

Security forces from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo have renewed their commitment towards developing new strategies for trans-border cooperation in the area of security, free movement of goods and people, child trafficking, drug smuggling and proliferation of small arms. At a just ended two-day meeting at Kombissiri, Burkina Faso, they called on their governments to strengthen closer ties in dealing with trans-border crime, which over the years has negatively affected... (GunPolicy.org)

Arms dealer Viktor Bout was sentenced to 25 years by a US federal court last week. Widely known as the 'merchant of death', the 45-year-old Russian has delivered weapons and arms to a wide range of presidents, insurgents and rebels in Africa and the Middle East including the likes of Charles Taylor in Liberia and Jonas Savimbi in Angola. He was caught in a US sting in which his services were solicited for the supply of weapons to Colombia's FARC rebels. His companies... (GunPolicy.org)

A small, scratched metal can thrown on the ground created Brazil's first diplomatic embarrassment of 2012. The canister of tear gas had been collected by pro-democracy activists in Bahrain. Stamped across the can in blue was a Brazilian flag and the words 'MADE IN BRAZIL.' One year had passed since Bahrain became the stage for pro-democracy protests by the majority Shiites against the Sunni monarchy commanded by king Hamad bin-Isa Khalifa. The protesters had been... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: With the support of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Brazilian gun manufacturers seek new markets in countries with a history of human rights violations: Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines and Yemen. Brazil is among the six countries in the world with annual exports exceeding $ 100 million, according to recent research from Small Arms Survey. According to the Army, responsible for supervising and controlling exports from 2005 to... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: According to the National Commission for the Fight against Proliferation of Small Arms (CNLPAL), around 2 million small arms are circulating in Burkina Faso. Many of these small arms are home-made. During 2008, 248 small arms were seized, including 170 home-made, against 378 seized in 2009, including 249 home-made. In the first quarter of 2010, 140 small arms were seized, including 50 home-made.] La Commission nationale de lutte contre la... (GunPolicy.org)