Find Gun Policy Facts

Armed violence prevention, gun control laws and the small arms trade:

Firearm News

Lebanon

Lebanese Rush to Buy Weapons for Personal Security

30 December 2021

The National (Lebanon)

The business of firearms dealer Abdullah has been booming since Lebanon's economy collapsed. He sells at least three rifles a day – Kalashnikovs are popular among households in fear for their safety as crime rates soar. He also sells boxes of ammunition and grenades. An automatic rifle or machinegun costs between $400 and $1,400. His sales have risen threefold since the financial crisis began in 2019, even though the dollar value of the minimum wage has dropped to... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: The National (Lebanon)

40700

United States,Switzerland,European Union,Egypt,Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Bahrain,United Arab Emirates,Qatar,Kuwait,Lebanon,Jordan

Arms Trade Treaty Member Nations Flout Gun Trade Rules [FR]

26 August 2016

SwissInfo

[Translated summary: Many countries that have signed the Arms Trade Treaty continue to ignore the rules. Only Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden have been completely transparent about their trade. US, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France and Italy continue to sell arms to Egypt which translates into the torture and death of hundreds of people.] Disposer d'un traité sur le commerce des armes, c'est bien. Encore faut-il qu'il soit respecté. Pour Amnesty International, trop... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: SwissInfo

39750

Syria,Iraq,Jordan,Lebanon,Turkey,United States,Qatar,Saudi Arabia

Weapons of the Syrian War: Small Arms

19 July 2016

Defense One (USA)

Small arms were already plentiful in Syria before the war, thanks to years of Soviet and Russian support. More flooded in after the conflict began First use: March 18, 2011. After the Assad regime detained more than a dozen teenagers as part of its Arab Spring crackdown, protesters burned down a police headquarters in the southern city of Dara'a. In response, police fired tear gas at protesters, and then opened fire on them. Origin: Small arms were already plentiful... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Defense One (USA)

39587

Lebanon,Iraq,Jordan,Oman,Egypt,Saudi Arabia,Croatia,Israel,Kuwait,Germany,Spain,United Arab Emirates,Italy,Qatar,Switzerland,United States

World's Small Arms Trade Reached US$5.8 Billion in 2013

17 June 2016

Israel Homeland Security

The Small Arms Survey (SAS) released its annual Transfers and Transparency trade update for 2016, which reveals that the world's top and the largest of the smaller arms exporters conducted trade to the tune of $5.8bn in 2013. This represents an increase of 17 percent in small arms trade on 2012, which came in at $5bn flat. The United States alone, the world's largest arms manufacturer and exporter, exported a record breaking $1.1bn worth of small arms in 2013. In a... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Israel Homeland Security

39464

Iran,Syria,Lebanon,Russia,Iraq

Profit Trumps Principle On Syria Weapons Black Market

5 February 2014

Christian Science Monitor / Alaska Dispatch

A glut of small arms in Syria and high weapons prices in neighboring Lebanon, where growing instability supports a thriving black market, have encouraged both Syrian soldiers and rebels to sell their surplus stock, sometimes to their battlefield enemies. The trade in illegal weaponry in Lebanon has all the characteristics of a stock market, with prices increasing and decreasing according to the security climate and the mood on the Lebanese street. The savvy dealers buy... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Christian Science Monitor / Alaska Dispatch

38358

Lebanon,Syria,Italy

Experts Concerned Over Italy's Well-Armed Gangsters Going 'Clean'

2 July 2013

Local (Italy)

Italian mafia homicides have fallen by almost half in recent years, underscoring the gangsters' ongoing shift into what look like legitimate business sectors, researchers said on Tuesday. Anna Alvazzi del Frate, research director of the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey think-tank, told reporters that mafia killings in Italy dropped by 43 percent between 2007 and 2010, and that the trend was continuing. "We think that this may be related to the increasing involvement of... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Local (Italy)

37625

Malaysia,Lebanon

Malaysian Journalist Dies in Lebanon Gun Accident

4 February 2013

New Straits Times (Malaysia)

KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian journalist was killed in a firearm accident in Lebanon on Saturday. Claudia Theophilus, 42, who worked as a web producer with Al-Jazeera English news agency, died after a rifle - which she was looking at, went off accidentally about 2.30am (8.30am Malaysian time). The incident happened in Baakleen - 45km from Beirut. Malaysian ambassador to Lebanon Ilango Karuppannan said Theophilus died shortly after she arrived at a general hospital in... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: New Straits Times (Malaysia)

37021

Lebanon

Lebanon Army Arrests 18 Gunmen, Seizes Weapons in Tripoli

27 August 2012

Xinhua

BEIRUT - The Lebanese army said Sunday it has raided a site in the northern city of Tripoli where it detained 18 gunmen and seized two truckloads of weapons and ammunition. According to a statement by the army's guidance directorate, the army raided al-Zahriyeh area in Al Qebbeh region in Tripoli after gunmen opened fire at one of the army patrols in the neighborhood. "Army reinforcements were sent to the area, where they staged a major crackdown on the hideouts of... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Xinhua

36502

Syria,Lebanon,Iran,China,United States,Liberia,Africa

Liberia President Warns of New Wars Without Strong Arms Trade Treaty

13 July 2012

New Age (Johannesburg) / AFP

Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said on Thursday that Africa will face more conflict like her country's devastating civil war unless arms trade treaty negotiators produce a tough accord. The Nobel Peace Prize winning president told envoys negotiating a deal that they had "a once in a lifetime opportunity to agree tough controls on the arms trade." "The Liberian experience and other experiences in Africa and other parts of the world show that without such a... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: New Age (Johannesburg) / AFP

36330

Iraq,Lebanon,Venezuela,United Arab Emirates,Canada,Syria

No Gun Control Plus Idle Youth Equals Recipe for Trouble - Opinion

6 June 2012

National (Abu Dhabi), Opinion

'The weapon first, fighting second," goes an Arabic proverb, which pretty much explains why there is so much conflict in the world today. But it also describes perfectly what I have had the misfortune of seeing as I've travelled and worked in war zones across the region. I remember the time I was in Iraq, and the family I was staying with insisted that I carry some form of weapon as "defence" and protection. Even their grandmother carried a small hand gun in her purse... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: National (Abu Dhabi)

36217

Syria,Lebanon

Lebanese Dealer Describes Flourishing Business of Gun Smuggling into Syria

8 April 2012

Ya Libnan (Lebanon)

Wearing dark glasses as he sat in a fashionable Beirut cafe, Abu Abode, a Lebanese arms dealer, did not mince his words as he described the flourishing business of smuggling weapons into neighbouring Syria. "Small arms and automatic rifles are in high demand by the Syrian rebels," Abu Abode, not his real name, told dpa. Peaceful pro-democracy protests, which started in Syria in March 2011, have turned into an armed conflict between the government of President Bashar... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Ya Libnan (Lebanon)

36007

Lebanon,Syria,Turkey,Iraq,Jordan,Israel

Syria Crisis Amplifies Demand for Black Market Guns in Lebanon

10 January 2012

Daily Star (Beirut)

BEIRUT - As Abu Rida reels off a list of the latest prices for weapons and ammunition on Lebanon's black market, his small audience lets out low whistles of surprise."$2,000 for an RPG?" said one man, referring to a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. "I swear to God," replied Abu Rida who has seen his profits skyrocket over the past year. "The prices are crazy. And it's all going to Syria." Black market arms dealers like Abu Rida are struggling to cope with a soaring... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Daily Star (Beirut)

35721

Lebanon

Beirut Politicians Demand 'A City Without Weapons' [FR]

20 December 2011

L'Orient-Le Jour (Beirut)

[Translated summary: Following a series of shootings in the streets of Beirut, several deputies of the city expressed their discontent and recommended "a city without weapons".] Les députés de la capitale s'apprêtent à entamer une série de rencontres avec les trois pôles du pouvoir pour demander que les armes soient retirées des rues de Beyrouth. Suite à une série d'incidents sécuritaires ces dernières semaines dans les rues de Beyrouth, au cours desquels... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: L'Orient-Le Jour (Beirut)

35679

Iraq,Jordan,Turkey,Syria,Lebanon

Gun Smuggling Business Booming in Lebanon, Thanks to Syrian Uprising

25 November 2011

National Post (Toronto) / Reuters

BAALBEK, Lebanon — Weapons dealer Abu Wael has traded guns in Lebanon's Bekaa valley since the last days of his country's civil war, nearly a quarter of a century ago. This has been his busiest year ever. Unrest in neighbouring Syria has sent demand for weapons soaring, doubling prices for Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons and helping supply the increasingly well armed insurrection challenging President Bashar al-Assad. In the first six months of the... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: National Post (Toronto) / Reuters

35582

Syria,Iran,Lebanon,Canada

Quebec Woman Charged with Trying to Export Assault Rifle Parts to Lebanon

21 October 2011

National Post (Toronto)

MONTREAL — Young and striking in her black hijab, Mouna Diab was once active in a Quebec youth group that fought discrimination against Muslims by challenging the stereotypes that too often associate them with violence and terror. But the outspoken 26-year-old activist had little to say this week after appearing in a Montreal courtroom to face a charge alleging she had violated a United Nations Security Council arms embargo that prohibits the export of weapons to... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: National Post (Toronto)

35444

Iran,Yemen,Turkey,Libya,Iraq,Lebanon,Syria

Syria's Alawites Go on Arms Shopping Spree

16 October 2011

Jerusalem Post (Israel)

Small arms are increasingly in demand inside volatile Syria, particularly among the country's Alawite minority, who fear they may face retaliation over the revolt against their co-religionist, President Bashar Assad. Most of the weapons are being smuggled in from Lebanon, once an end user of small arms during the country's 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. Today, Lebanon is overflowing with automatic weapons, grenades and hunting rifles, all of which are in demand... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Jerusalem Post (Israel)

35420

Lebanon

Family Killings, Fear of Violence Prompt Lebanon to Tighten Gun Control

21 September 2011

Press TV (Beirut)

Lebanon has witnessed years of civil war and internal fighting. Lately, Lebanon is facing a phenomenon that surpasses any political agreement or even disagreement. The ownership of personal guns has become something that many take for granted. Three incidents in the last month led to the killing of several people in one family as a result of feuds, and others in mysterious circumstances. In one of those incidents a pump-action shot gun was used to kill a mother and... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Press TV (Beirut)

35309

Lebanon

Basketball Match in Stressed Lebanese Village Ends in Group Gunfight

5 September 2011

Daily Star (Beirut)

BEIRUT - Residents of Deir al-Qamar urged security forces and judicial authorities Sunday to impose the strictest punishment on those who attacked locals, following a dispute that broke out during a basketball game over the weekend. The dispute between supporters of the Talaeh team of Deir al-Ahmar and Tawhid team of Jahiliyeh over the game's results escalated into gun fire when supporters of Tawhid, armed with knives, sticks and guns, attacked local residents. The... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Daily Star (Beirut)

35238

Lebanon,Syria

As Syrian Violence is Escalating, Guns Black Market Flourishes in Lebanon

14 May 2011

al Jazeera

As the Syrian uprisings escalate in violence, Lebanon's black market in arms is flourishing, with prices of light and medium weapons driven higher by Lebanese and Syrian demand. "Prices have tripled in less than two months," says Wael, a local arms dealer, whose name has been changed to protect his identity. According to local dealers, Syrians have been crossing the borders into neighbouring Lebanon to purchase weapons since late January, when the country erupted with... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: al Jazeera

34808

Lebanon

Illegal Gun Dealer Boasts He can't Keep Up with Demand in Lebanon

22 April 2011

Sydney Morning Herald

The Beiruti arms dealer Abu Jihad is more than an hour late to our pre-arranged meeting. "I'm very sorry for the delay," says the balding father of four when he finally appears. "On the way here I made an unexpected sale. Two M16s." Wearing green camouflage pants and a black parka, Abu Jihad sits down and reaches for the Smith & Wesson revolver strapped to his ankle. "I normally carry three weapons," he says, emptying the revolver of its bullets and spinning the... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Sydney Morning Herald

34710