Firearm News
United States,Saudi Arabia,South Korea,United Kingdom,Germany,Algeria,Switzerland,Netherlands,United Arab Emirates,Turkey,France
Germany Defends Its Sudden Leap in Gun, Ammo Exports [ES]
26 October 2016
Deutsche Welle
[Translated summary: Between January and June 2016, Germany exported firearms and military equipment amounting to €4 billion; an increase of 500 million in relation to the same period in 2015. The government defended its firearm export policy, saying that it's restrictive and transparent and assuring that they give a "special relevance" to the respect of human rights.]
Entre enero y junio de 2016 Alemania concedió permisos de exportación de armas y equipamiento... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Deutsche Welle
40083
Australia,Afghanistan,Russia,Central Asia,Pakistan,China,Turkey,Brazil
UN Rule of Thumb Suggests 600,000 Illegal Guns in Australia
21 October 2016
Age (Melbourne)
As many as 600,000 illegal guns could be circulating in the Australian underworld, but national efforts to control the spread is being hampered by inconsistencies between states, a firearms intelligence report has found.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission report on guns - to be released on Friday, the same day as state and federal government representatives meet to thrash out a way to combat illegal firearms - also backs a national amnesty.
Chris Dawson,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Age (Melbourne)
40025
Turkey,Australia
New Australian Gun Ban Hits Rapid-fire Shotgun - NY Times
19 October 2016
New York Times, Associated Press
Australia's tough gun controls will be further tightened to restrict access to new rapid-fire shotguns, the prime minister said Wednesday.
But a pro-gun independent senator warned Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the move will add to the government's difficulty in getting legislation through the Senate.
Turnbull was commenting on the fate of the Adler A110 shotgun, a Turkish-manufactured lever-action weapon that was banned from importation last year as an... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times, Associated Press
40040
Spain,United States,Greece,Italy,Turkey,France,Syria
Europol Dismantles Spain/Syria/Libya Gun Trafficking Network
11 October 2016
EFE News Agency
A huge haul of arms and drugs was seized from a trafficking network run by Syrian nationals, Spain's police said Tuesday.
A total of 109 people were arrested and 100 tons of hashish, 11,400 firearms, over a million ammunition rounds and 10 tons of explosives were seized in an international operation against a trafficking network that sold drugs to arm jihadist groups in countries like Libya.
The joint operation was carried out by security forces from Spain, Italy,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: EFE News Agency
39993
China,Eastern Europe,Saudi Arabia,Turkey,Syria,Iraq
'Almost Direct' Supply Chain Sells Guns from Europe to ISIS
11 September 2016
Huffington Post (UK)
Islamic State fighters are illegally using guns and other weapons made in Eastern European factories, in a newly-discovered supply chain that is "almost direct", a weapons expert has claimed.
James Bevan, the director of Conflict Armament Research (CAR), told The Huffington Post UK that investigations this summer have seen a rapid, frightening change in the source of weapons used by the so-called Islamic State to fight other groups and carry out massacres.
These... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Huffington Post (UK)
39834
United States,China,Germany,United Kingdom,France,Russia,Spain,Italy,Israel,India,Saudi Arabia,United Arab Emirates,Pakistan,Australia,Turkey,Singapore,South Korea,South Sudan,Ukraine
Killer Facts: The Scale of the Global Arms Trade, Gun Totals
22 August 2016
Amnesty International (London)
Transfers of heavy conventional weapons
The top 10 exporters of conventional arms (excluding small arms/ light weapons – SALW) 2010-15
USA: US$55.006 billion
Russia: US$42.404 billion
China: US$9.943 billion
Germany: US$ 9.467 billion
France: US$ 8.932 billion
UK: US$ 7.627 billion
Spain: US$ 5.310 billion
Italy: US$ 4.360 billion
Ukraine: US$ 4.156 billion
Israel: US$ 3.280 billion
The top 10 importers of conventional arms (excluding SALWs) 2010-15
India:... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Amnesty International (London)
39717
Eastern Europe,Syria,Jordan,Saudi Arabia,Turkey,Germany,United Arab Emirates
Eastern Europe and the Lucrative Middle East Arms Trade
9 August 2016
Deutsche Welle
War-torn Syria is full of arms: thousands of AK47 assault rifles, machine guns, mortar shells, rocket launchers and anti-tank weapons, aging T-55 and T-72 tanks. Most are believed to come from the following countries: Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Montenegro, Serbia and Romania. They reach Syria via a circuitous route. First, they are sent by air or sea to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates or Turkey – then on from there to the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Deutsche Welle
39676
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
European Union,Albania,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Bulgaria,Croatia,Greece,Kosovo,Macedonia,Montenegro,Serbia,Turkey
European Commission Tightens Gun Control Across the EU
18 November 2015
European Commission - Press release
The European Commission today adopted a package of measures to make it more difficult to acquire firearms in the European Union, better track legally held firearms, strengthen cooperation between Member States, and ensure that deactivated firearms are rendered inoperable. The proposals presented today were foreseen in the European Security Agenda adopted in April 2015, but have been significantly accelerated in light of recent events. The Commission is hereby supporting... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: European Commission - Press release
38863
United States,Australia,Turkey
Weakening Australia's Gun Laws a 'Huge Mistake' - Ex-PM
10 September 2015
ABC News (Australia)
The Federal Government has agreed to allow the importation of the Adler lever-action shotgun in a year's time, pending a review into the system.
Gun control advocates say the rapid-fire weapon from Turkey should be permanently banned because of its fast firing rate and its eight-round capacity.
Mr Howard, who introduced a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, said he did not believe Australians wanted to see weaker... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: ABC News (Australia)
38858
Nicaragua,Peru,Haiti,Dominican Republic,Cuba,Mexico,Honduras,Guatemala,Turkey,El Salvador,United States,Russia,Austria,Belgium,Colombia,Brazil,Czech Republic,Germany,Israel,Venezuela,Italy,Spain
The Latin American Gun Leak
16 January 2015
Los Angeles Times, Opinion
During the 1980s, El Salvador was the single largest recipient of U.S. military hardware and weaponry in the Western Hemisphere. Although the Central American country's civil war ended in 1992, the guns, grenades and bullets linger, as do their murderous effects. In September, a U.S. official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimated that half the weapons available on El Salvador's vibrant black market were made in the United... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
38856
Turkey
Can 'Stray Bullets' Be Deemed Innocent? Turkey Considers New Gun Laws
23 April 2014
Today's Zaman (Istanbul), Opinion
Earlier this week, Turkey saw two terrifying incidents in which stray bullets caused injury and, in one case, the death of a 24-year-old. Erkan Bektaş, a waiter who was leaving work at a café in İstanbul's Beşiktaş district at 5 a.m., was shot in the head by a stray bullet when he was walking down the street. The individual who shot him was caught up in a bar fight. The dispute, which the young waiter was not involved in, had reportedly erupted among a group of men... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Today's Zaman (Istanbul)
38606
Africa,North Africa,Russia,Syria,Mali,Qatar,Turkey,Libya,Egypt,Chad,Somalia,Nigeria,Niger
Libya's Guns Free-For-All Fuels Region's Turmoil
22 March 2014
St Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
TRIPOLI — At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it's Tripoli's biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars.
Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: St Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
38494
Turkey,Nigeria
Turkish Airlines Denies Arms Shipment to Nigeria
20 March 2014
Daily Trust (Abuja)
Turkish Airlines has denied reports that it has been bringing arms into Nigeria which might have found its way to the Northeast, where Boko Haram militants have caused violence.
"Turkish Airlines has not been involved in any carriage of arms to that country (Nigeria) from Turkey nor from any country," the airline said in a statement yesterday.
The reports stem from a leaked tape, where Mehmet Karatas, an assistant executive of the airline, allegedly tells Mustafa... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Daily Trust (Abuja)
38485
Turkey
Turkish Man Shoots, Kills Six Colleagues and Self at Former Workplace
19 March 2014
Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul)
Seven people were killed and several are reported injured after an armed attack on the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) office in the northeastern province of Kars on March 19.
It has been revealed that the assailant was an employee recently fired by TÜİK. He committed suicide right after the raid, which was staged soon after the opening of the office, Kars Governor Eyüp Tepe said in a statement.
"Someone who was dismissed from his job ran amok and killed... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul)
38476
Turkey
Man Killed by Celebratory Gunfire in Turkey
18 March 2014
Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul)
A 30-year-old man has been killed by a stray bullet during Nevruz celebrations in the southeastern province of Şırnak.
Local took to the streets in the city March 17, with many firing celebratory shots into the air using guns, hunting rifles, and Kalashnikovs.
Garip Taşkın was hit by a gun shot while he was going home at around 6.30 p.m. He was immediately taken to the hospital but could not be saved.
Meanwhile, clashes erupted between a group of protesters and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul)
38504
Turkey,Kenya,Somalia
Somali Man Arrested for Smuggling Illegal Handguns in Kenya
31 January 2014
Nairobian (Kenya)
A man was arrested in Lunga Lunga for smuggling illegal weapons.
Abdillahi Edin Adano was seized with two pistols and 20 rounds of ammunition that he intended to sell.
Police laid a trap after getting tips from the public that the suspect had landed in Eastleigh with the cache. The seized man allegedly planned to sell the guns in Lunga Lunga.
Last year, six firearms and several rounds of ammunitions were recovered from the same slums where four suspects were... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Nairobian (Kenya)
38336
China,Egypt,United States,Turkey
Over 2,000 Rifles Seized At Egyptian Port
29 December 2013
Egypt State Information Service
Egyptian customs authorities on Saturday seized firearms and ammunition in containers coming from the United States, Turkey and China.
Two Beirut-bound containers were found at the Alexandria port carrying 2,400 rifles of different types, said the head of the Egyptian Customs Authority Mohamed el-Salhawy.
Another two shipments of fireworks arrived at Dekheila port. They were imported under a fake request of medical supplies. Meantime, four containers were seized at... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Egypt State Information Service
38224
Turkey,Syria
Farce of 'Sporting Firearms': Turkey Fudges 47 Tons of Arms to Syria
17 December 2013
Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul)
No weapons intended for war have been exported to Syria in 2013, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz has said, while acknowledging that weapons "without military uses" for use in sports activities have been exported to Syria, indirectly acknowledging a recent report by daily Hürriyet.
Yılmaz, however, declined to elaborate on the addressee of the imported weaponry.
Permission for exportation of all weapons from Turkey are issued by the Defense Ministry, Yılmaz said on... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul)
38192
Saudi Arabia,Libya,India,Georgia,Egypt,Yemen,Vietnam,Turkey,Syria,Germany,Bahamas
Questions Asked Over Germany's Arms Exports
16 December 2013
Deutsche Welle
For a long time, arms exports to regions in conflict were taboo for the German government. However, the growing number of arms deals with Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia or Qatar, or with Asian countries like India and Indonesia suggests that these could soon become a pillar of German foreign and security policy.
This, at least, is the warning expressed in this year's weapons exports report published in Berlin on Monday (16.12.2013) by the Joint Church and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Deutsche Welle
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