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

Firearm News

Ukraine,Romania

Romanian Mafia Gang Sells Guns 'Bound for Western Europe'

7 August 2016

Sky News (UK)

As Britain's security services warn of potential Paris-style terror attacks in the UK, Sky News has been told by eastern European mafia gangs that demand for their military grade weapons across Europe has rocketed in two years - and they will supply to anyone. Security analysts say Islamist terror cells and "lone wolf" killers now consider automatic weapons the best way to bring mass murder to our streets. Europe's open borders mean that weapons like the AK-47 can be... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Sky News (UK)

39699

Romania,Western Europe,Ukraine

Romania Is a Central Point for Gun Trafficking from Ukraine [FR]

7 August 2016

Sputnik News

[Translated summary: The illicit traffic of firearms coming from Ukraine passes through Romania to reach the countries of Western Europe, but also the Middle East. One Romanian traffic network offers pistols, sniper rifles, shotguns, hunting rifles and semi-automatics.] Les ventes d'armes illégales en provenance d'Ukraine et à destination de l'Europe de l'Ouest commencent à faire parler d'elles. Le trafic illicite d'armes en provenance d'Ukraine passe par la... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Sputnik News

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Slovenia,Malta,El Salvador,Denmark,Croatia,Hungary,Finland,Estonia,France,Spain,Italy,Bulgaria,United Kingdom,Germany,Slovakia,Ireland,Latvia,Romania

Methodists Welcome 18 Countries Ratifying Arms Trade Treaty Including UK

3 April 2014

Christian Today

The Methodist Church has praised the government's ratification of the UN's Arms Trade Treaty. The President of the Methodist Conference, the Reverend Ruth Gee, hailed it as a "legal milestone that should help to protect those who are abused and oppressed". Countries that ratify the treaty will be required to establish national arms regulators to control the exporting of conventional weapons and weapons components, and to properly regulate arms brokers. Domestic weapon... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Christian Today

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Italy,United Kingdom,Slovakia,Germany,Romania,France,Spain,Bulgaria,Croatia,Malta,Denmark,El Salvador,Estonia,Finland,Hungary,Ireland,Slovenia,European Union,Latvia

18 Countries Ratify UN Arms Trade Treaty

2 April 2014

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS — Eighteen countries, including five of the world's leading arms exporters, ratified a landmark treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade on Wednesday, giving a significant boost to the campaign for the treaty's entry into force. The ambassadors of the 18 countries handed over the documents at a U.N. ceremony on the first anniversary of the General Assembly's adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty, which is aimed at stemming the global... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Associated Press

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Bosnia & Herzegovina,Croatia,Montenegro,Slovenia,Serbia,Macedonia,Romania,Albania,Bulgaria

South East Europe Workshop Confirms Surplus Firearms a Regional Threat

8 April 2013

SEESAC (Belgrade)

On 3-5 April, the 6th Workshop of the Regional Approach to Stockpile Reduction (RASR) of Conventional Weapons and Munitions Initiative took place in Bled, Slovenia. The focus of the 6th RASR workshop were national legal frameworks regulating import, export and transit of weapons, ammunition and dual-use goods, particularly as they relate to the surplus weapons and munitions. RASR is a regional initiative which aims to coordinate and support countries of South East... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: SEESAC (Belgrade)

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Romania,Burkina Faso,Poland,Russia,Latvia,Tunisia,Guinea,Senegal,Bulgaria,China,Africa,Europe,Côte d'Ivoire

Arms Proliferation and Abuse Shatter Communities in Côte d'Ivoire - AI

20 March 2013

Amnesty International (London)

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)

Read More: Amnesty International (London)

37206

Bosnia & Herzegovina,Croatia,Eastern Europe,Romania,Greece,Bulgaria,Moldova,Macedonia,Serbia

Balkan Countries Loaded With Illegal Firearms

8 August 2012

Southeast European Times

Southeast Europe's are heavily armed – according to the South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, people in the region legally own 3 million firearms and another 4 million illegal weapons. Serbia leads the region in weapons, according to Ivan Cvijovic, police inspector at the public order sector of the Belgrade police department. The rate of registered firearms per 100 people is 15.81. Montenegro has 14.36... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Southeast European Times

36453

Senegal,Tunisia,Latvia,France,Romania,Mali,Guinea,Ghana,Europe,Africa,Côte d'Ivoire,Belarus

Belarus FM Denies Reports of Illegal Arms Transfers to Côte d'Ivoire

20 April 2012

Telegraf (Belarus)

Spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Andrei Savinykh denied reports of arms shipments to Côte d'Ivoire in violation of the UN sanctions. "It's not even an accusation; it's a clumsy attempt of individual journalists to muddy the waters, as the proverb says," he said. "The Belarusian side has been always cooperating openly with experts from the UN Security Council Committee on Côte d'Ivoire, whose reports these pseudo-journalists referred to. If they really... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Telegraf (Belarus)

36051

Slovakia,Austria,Azerbaijan,Serbia,Russia,Armenia,Turkey,Romania,Czech Republic,Croatia,United States,Bulgaria,Ukraine,Southern Europe,Georgia,Eastern Europe

South Caucasian Republics Purchased 107,324 Small Arms in 2005-2010

4 January 2012

Milaz.info (Azerbaïdjan)

The South Caucasian republics purchased 107 324 small arms from various countries of the world in 2005-2010. APA reports quoting the UN Register of Conventional Arms that Georgia takes the first place among the South Caucasian republics on purchase of small arms during this period. Georgia bought 76 377 small arms from 7 countries. The submachine guns, short rifles, pistols, automatic rifles, pistol-machineguns, heavy machineguns, grenade launchers as well as the... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Milaz.info (Azerbaïdjan)

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Romania,Ireland

Romanian Truck Driver Hands Pistol to 'Incredulous' Irish Prison Guards

6 April 2011

Irish Times (Dublin)

A Romanian man who was armed with a pistol as he made a delivery to St Patrick's Institution has escaped a prison term after a judge accepted he genuinely believed he was allowed possess it. Sandor Hideg (33) was delivering a skip to the detention centre and handed the gun to guards because he thought he had to check it in before entering. The court heard the guards were "perplexed" and in the confusion, Hideg was handed back the gun. Hideg of Liffey Avenue, Liffey... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Irish Times (Dublin)

34638

United States,Mexico,Romania

Romanian Assault Rifles Modified in US, Flood South to Mexican Drug War

3 February 2011

Center for Public Integrity (Washington DC)

Camron Scott Galloway, 21, walked into X Caliber Guns in Phoenix, Ariz., on Jan. 30, 2008, and filled out forms for the purchase of six AK-47 rifles. Reliable and powerful, and a bargain at about $500 each, the Romanian-made gun, a semiautomatic version of the iconic Kalashnikov assault weapon, had become popular with the drug cartels in Mexico. Galloway, who eventually pleaded guilty to a forgery charge and became a cooperating prosecution witness in a broader case,... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Center for Public Integrity (Washington DC)

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Romania

Heads Roll as Soldiers, Generals Accused of Stealing Romanian Army Guns

25 February 2009

BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Ziua newspaper website (Bucharest), Transcript

A large number of high ranking military officers have been dismissed, demoted, or reshuffled after the recent arms theft. Seven very low ranking military officers were arrested because prosecutors established that they had been responsible for, or had been accomplices to the theft. In the meantime, more than 60 weapons have simply disappeared. As we announced exclusively in yesterday's issue of our daily, the theft of the arms in the Ciorogarla depot is continuing to... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Ziua newspaper website (Bucharest)

29286

Slovakia,United States,Afghanistan,Albania,Bulgaria,Romania,Czech Republic,Hungary

Slovakia Sold Ammunition to Miami Gun Dealer, Pentagon for Afghan War

8 April 2008

BBC Worldwide Monitoring / SME (Bratislava), Transcript

Slovakia has traded in arms with the AEY company, which is being investigated over fraud in the United States. The daily New York Times found out that the company had been selling old Chinese ammunition from Albania to the Afghanis for decades, claiming that it was from Hungary. It purchased other weapons and munitions for the Afghanis in Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. It is not clear what exactly happened to the munitions and under what... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: BBC Worldwide Monitoring / SME (Bratislava)

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Serbia,Montenegro,Albania,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Romania,Croatia

Guns a Threat: Regional Parliamentary Seminar for South Eastern Europe

3 November 2006

Danas Daily (Belgrade)

BELGRADE — Over half a million people a year die from gun violence, said yesterday Rastislav Vrbensky, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Serbia at the opening of the Regional Parliamentary Seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons. He pointed at the danger of ammunition surpluses and recalled a recent ammunition explosion in Paracin. The ammunition surplus, said Vrbensky, can be diverted from military stockpiles into zones of instability or get into the hands of... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Danas Daily (Belgrade)

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Serbia,Montenegro,Albania,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Romania,Croatia

Meeting of Balkan Nations Agrees on Plan to Combat Gun Violence

2 November 2006

Vecernje Novosti (Belgrade)

There are at least five hundred million rifles, pistols and other SALW [small arms and light weapons] in circulation in the world and they kill approximately 500,000 people per year in armed conflicts and criminal activities. These statistics were released yesterday at the Regional Seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons for the Parliamentarians of Western Balkans, held yesterday at the Belgrade hotel Hyatt Regency. The speakers warned that SALW possession represents a... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Vecernje Novosti (Belgrade)

22068

Romania

Glock to Make 9mm Handguns in Romania: Arms Fair News

14 October 2005

ACT Media News Agency (Romania)

Arms companies from US, Japan, Israel, Turkey and fifteen European countries will participate in ExpoMil, the exhibition devoted to the arms industry, and along with the Romanian arms manufacturers, they aim to conclude partnerships with foreign investors, ACT Media news agency reports. The industry will undergo a major restructuring in the following years and there is need to find foreign partners willing to invest and to participate in privatisations. Currently... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: ACT Media News Agency (Romania)

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Romania

Romanian Weapons to Equip New Iraqi Armed Forces

8 August 2005

BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Agerpres, Transcript

Romanian exports of military products amounted to 37.8m dollars in 2000, accounting for 0.36 per cent of overall Romanian exports and went up to 41.85m dollars in 2004, i.e. 0.22 per cent of overall exports, the president of the National Agency for Exports Control (ANCEX) said in an interview with Saptamana Financiara (The Financial Week) publication. Liliana Ghervasuc stressed that after 1990 the UN Security Council imposed several embargoes that Romania had to... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Agerpres

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Romania

Official Says USA, Croatia are Romania's Top Arms Markets

14 March 2005

BBC Worldwide Monitoring (Rompres), Transcript

The United States is the favourite destination of the Romanian arms exports, transactions with the specialized American companies consisting in small arms, light armament and ammunition, the president of ANCEX (Licence Authority of armament transfers, exports, imports or intermediating activities) Nineta Barbulescu said on Thursday [10 March]. Another partner is Croatia, Romania providing the maintenance of MiG airplanes, Nineta Barbulescu stressed on the occasion of... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: BBC Worldwide Monitoring (Rompres)

16745

United States,Romania,Russia,Ukraine

Supremacist Suspect Named as Europe/US Gunrunner

25 February 2005

Seattle Times

A former Aryan Nations member charged last week with selling machine guns to an undercover informant was part of a gun-smuggling ring that shipped weapons into Seattle from Eastern Europe, according to a federal affidavit unsealed yesterday in U.S. District Court. Keith D. Gilbert, who once spent time in prison for possessing 1,400 pounds of explosives he later claimed were intended to blow up the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., stockpiled the guns at his... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Seattle Times

16593

Romania

American Caught With Gun on Plane

26 October 2003

Associated Press

TIMISOARA, Romania — An American has been arrested for allegedly flying to Romania with an unloaded pistol and 55 bullets hidden in his hand luggage. The authorities said Romanian-born Nicholas Slaina, a 68-year-old retiree from New York, flew to Timisoara from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday on the Romanian national carrier, Tarom. The Romanian airport authorities alerted Customs officials to suspicious objects in Slaina's luggage,... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Associated Press

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