Holtom, Paul and Irene Pavesi. 2017 ‘United States.’ Trade Update 2017: Out of the Shadows, pp. 13-54. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 11 September

Relevant contents

Excerpts regarding the United States:

The United States was the largest importer of guns world-wide, classified as a 'Major Importer' (p. 13)

The United States was the largest exporter of guns world-wide, classified as a 'Major Exporter' (p. 13)

In UN Comtrade data, the United States was the first 'Top Tier - Tier 1' firearm exporter world-wide (p. 17)

In UN Comtrade data, the United States was the only 'Top Tier - Tier 1' firearm importer world-wide (p. 21)

The United States ranked 25th in the global Transparency Barometer of the arms trade, scoring 14.25 out of a possible 25.0 (Table 8)

"During the period 2001–14, the United States was the world's largest small arms importer. Having first crossed the USD 1 billion mark in 2007, the documented value of US small arms imports exceeded the USD 2 billion mark in 2013. The United States imported USD 1.5 billion worth of small arms ammunition, pistols and revolvers, and sporting and hunting firearms in 2014. The country's three main trading partners in 2014 were, in decreasing order, Italy, Austria, and Germany." (p. 30)

Table 5 shows the dramatic rise in gun imports to North America from 2001 to 2014. (p. 29)

[Editor's Note: These 2014 data are dated, as the most reliable recent year in the Survey's annual report is always three years old.]

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