Pézard, Stéphanie and Nicolas Florquin. 2007 ‘Distribution of Arms - Distribution among Civilians by Province.’ Small Arms in Burundi: Disarming the Civilian Population in Peacetime, pp. 15-16. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva / Ligue Iteka. 1 August

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The Distribution of Arms - Distribution among Civilians by Province

On the basis of the qualitative interviews the team held with ex-combatants and Burundian officials, it is reasonable to think that between one household in four and one in twenty possesses arms, depending on the province. The sources make clear that these estimates take into account all small arms as defined by the UN (General Assembly of the United Nations, 1997), as well as grenades. They also confirm the results of the survey: the rate of possession of firearms among civilians is higher in urban areas and in provinces bordering the DRC and those that were most seriously affected by the conflict…

Once multiplied by the number of households per province, these ratios suggest that nearly 100,000 Burundian households have at least one weapon, which is out of proportion with the number of individuals holding a gun licence, estimated at between 3,500 and 4,000 people (aggregate total since 1960). These estimates therefore tend to confirm the figure of 100,000 illegal arms put forward by the transitional government in May 2005.

It is important to emphasize that the type of arms in the hands of civilians varies from province to province. The household survey shows that while Kalashnikovs and grenades are the weapon types most present in Bujumbura, the capital city stands out as the only province where handguns (pistols and revolvers) are held. In other provinces, Kalashnikovs and grenades are the main types of weapons available.

[DRC = Democratic Republic of the Congo]

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