Gun Policy News
Gun violence, gun control and small arms
Iraq,Syria,West Africa
West Africa Terror Groups Get Guns from Syria and Iraq - Study
17 November 2016
PJ Media (US)
A report issued this month tracking the flow of weapons across Libya and the Sahel revealed that terror groups operating in West Africa are getting much more than just inspiration from terror hubs in Iraq and Syria.
The study by UK-based Conflict Armament Research, an independent organization that tracks the flow of conventional weapons and materiel, found that weapons stockpiles remaining from the nearly 42-year dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi have migrated as far as... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: PJ Media (US)
40200
Syria,Iraq,Slovakia,European Union
Europe Split on Reforms and Regulations to Curb Gun Violence
14 November 2016
EUObserver (Belgium)
EU lawmakers are meeting on Tuesday (15 November) for another round of backroom talks to curb gun violence and prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons on the black market.
Debates around the European Commission's EU firearms directive reform, proposed in the aftermath the Paris November terrorist attacks, appears to be advancing as positions converge between the two co-legislatures at the European Parliament and the Council, representing member states.
"There is a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: EUObserver (Belgium)
40180
Germany,Australia,New Zealand,Japan,Switzerland,France,Poland,Iraq
German Ammo Sales Up Tenfold, €4 Billion Arms Sales in 2016
25 October 2016
Mo4ch (US)
Germany's small arms ammunition sales have increased by 10 times in the first 6 months of 2016, while total arms sales have reached €4 billion over the same period and have set a new record, Deutsche-Presse Agentur (DPA) says, citing a government report.
The total value of the small arms ammo export contracts has risen from €27 million ($29.3 million) in the first half of 2015 to €283.8 million ($308 million) in the first six months of 2016, the reports says,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Mo4ch (US)
40062
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,Afghanistan,Iraq
US Lost Hundreds of Thousands of Guns In Iraq, Afghanistan
24 August 2016
New York Times
Early this year, a Facebook user in Baghdad using the name Hussein Mahyawi posted a photograph of a slightly worn M4 assault rifle he was offering for sale. Veterans of the latest war in Iraq immediately recognized it. It was a standard American carbine equipped with a holographic sight, a foregrip that was military-issue during the occupation and a sticker bearing a digital QR code used by American forces for inventory control. Except for one detail — an aftermarket... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
39732
Ukraine,Russia,Iraq,Syria,Libya
Ukraine Once Again a Trove for Black Market Gun Trafficking
25 July 2016
New York Times, Reuters
SLOVIANSK/MOSCOW — On Feb. 12 last year, the same day that a ceasefire ended the worst of the fighting in eastern Ukraine between rebels and government forces, a former rebel fighter seized a chance to turn his inside knowledge of the conflict into hard cash.
He traveled to a spot on the Russian-Ukrainian border where he retrieved a cache of weapons hidden there earlier by his comrades in the pro-Russian rebel movement.
Four days later, shortly before 6:00 p.m., he... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times, Reuters
39613
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
Europe,Eastern Europe,Croatia,Bulgaria,France,Albania,Saudi Arabia,Syria,Serbia,West Asia,Iraq,Yemen,Slovakia,Sudan
Balkan Gun Trade Fuels Crime, Terrorism in Europe, Asia
16 April 2016
Economist
The arsenal discovered in the apartment of Reda Kriket, a suspected terrorist arrested on March 24th near Paris, included explosives, Kalashnikov AK-47 rifles and a machine pistol from Croatia. The terrorists who staged the attacks last November in Paris employed AK-47s made by Zastava, a Serbian manufacturer. The Kouachi brothers, who attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo the previous January, used Kalashnikov ammunition made in Bosnia. Whatever else these... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Economist
39179
Europe,European Union,Albania,Macedonia,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Iraq,North Africa,Afghanistan,Serbia,Croatia
Chasing Exports, Balkan Countries Foster Gun, Ammunition Industries
24 February 2014
Southeast European Times
Balkan countries are taking measures to support domestic military firms in an effort to improve their economies and develop closer relations with NATO, experts said.
Governments pay more attention to the military industry's economic potential, said Blagoja Markovski, president of the Balkan Security Forum in Skopje.
"It offers extraordinary opportunities to create jobs and help the development of the economy. Individual countries' earnings range from tens of millions... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Southeast European Times
38438
Netherlands,Spain,United Kingdom,Italy,United States,Belgium,Iraq,Algeria,Bahrain,Egypt,Mexico,Pakistan,Canada
Canada Increases Gun Exports to Countries with 'Dubious' Human Rights
8 December 2013
Toronto Star (Ontario) / Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Bahrain, Algeria and Iraq, countries with dubious human rights records or a history of violent internal conflict, have recently become new buyers of Canadian-made guns and ammunition, an analysis of federal data shows.
The analysis by The Canadian Press found that Canadian exports to those countries swelled by 100 per cent from 2011 to 2012, the most recent figures publicly available.
During the same time period, exports of Canadian weapons also increased... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Toronto Star (Ontario) / Canadian Press
38160
Iraq,Syria,Israel,India,Ireland,Togo,Canada,United States,Afghanistan,Côte d'Ivoire,Iran,Sri Lanka,Germany,Russia
Growing Number of Personalised Firearms to Boost Safety Available
30 November 2013
Economist
To help push Soviet forces out of Afghanistan in the 1980s, America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gave Afghan fighters shoulder-launched Stinger anti-aircraft missiles (pictured). Accurate and easy-to-use, the Stingers caused grievous losses. But after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the CIA wanted to discourage the use of the leftover missiles. It got hold of some of those circulating on the black market and booby-trapped them, so that anyone who tried to fire one... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Economist
38133
Iraq,Egypt,Czech Republic
Czech Firm Wins Egyptian Tender for Pistols, Submachine Guns
23 May 2013
Xinhua
PRAGUE - Czech arms firm Ceska zbrojovka won an international tender to supply 50,000 pistols to the Egyptian interior ministry, company CEO Lubomir Kovarik said on Thursday.
Speaking at a defence industry trade fair in Brno, Kovarik said some of the firearms were sent to Egypt last week. The CZ P-07 Duty pistols are smaller than those supplied by Ceska zbrojovka to the Czech military and security forces.
The one-year contract will be followed by the supply of several... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Xinhua
37482
Sweden,Uruguay,Finland,Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Cyprus,Switzerland,Yemen,Serbia,United States
10 Nations with Highest Gun Ownership
12 March 2013
SiliconIndia
Bangalore: "Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins," said novelist Ayn Rand. In an era where the misuse of guns and ammunitions are leading to massacres, it is no more a place of nonviolence. Arms and ammunitions leave bitter memories and scar the human race for ages to come. Here are the 10 countries with highest gun ownership, as listed by yahoo.com.
USA:
USA tops the list of countries with highest gun ownership and this no surprise! The... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: SiliconIndia
37179
Iraq
Iraqis Celebrate Soccer Win with Fatal Gunfire, Authorities Blame Culture
17 January 2013
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Prague), Blog
Iraq's soccer team sparked widespread jubilation across the country on January 15 when Ahmad Khalil's last-gasp goal gave them victory over Bahrain in the semifinals of the Gulf Cup.
Now only the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) stands between "The Lions of Mesopotamia" and their first major international trophy since they surprised the world by winning the Asian Cup in 2007.
In a proud soccer country that has long been starved of success, it's no surprise that many... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Prague)
36953
Czech Republic,Hungary,Côte d'Ivoire,Iran,Guinea,Niger,Russia,South Sudan,China,Uganda,Afghanistan,Nigeria,Kenya,Iraq,Congo (DRC)
Trail of Bullet Casings Leads from Africa's Wars Back to Iran
11 January 2013
New York Times
The first clues appeared in Kenya, Uganda and what is now South Sudan. A British arms researcher surveying ammunition used by government forces and civilian militias in 2006 found Kalashnikov rifle cartridges he had not seen before. The ammunition bore no factory code, suggesting that its manufacturer hoped to avoid detection.
Within two years other researchers were finding identical cartridges circulating through the ethnic violence in Darfur. Similar ammunition then... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
36931
Tunisia,Egypt,Qatar,United Arab Emirates,Kuwait,Bahrain,Oman,Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Iran,United States
How US, Middle East Gun Laws Measure Up
19 December 2012
Al Arabiya (Dubai)
The fatal Dec. 14 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut which claimed the lives of 28 people, including 20 innocent children under 10 once again brought to light the dilemma of gun ownership in the United States and despite the fact that it received no response from the gun rights advocates but a deafening silence, laid emphasis on the necessity for the United States to revise its gun policies.
The shooting rampage, in which a mentally... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Al Arabiya (Dubai)
36840
Russia,Iraq
Iraq Govt Signs $4.2b Arms Deal with Russia
9 October 2012
BBC News
Iraq has signed contracts to buy Russian arms worth $4.2bn (£2.6bn; 3.2bn euros) this year, Russian news agencies report.
Moscow, the main supplier of arms to Iraq under Saddam Hussein, thus becomes the country's second-biggest arms supplier after the US.
The new contracts were announced after talks between the two countries' prime ministers near Moscow on Tuesday.
Reports suggest attack helicopters and missiles are included in them.
Iraq has been rebuilding its... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC News
36632
United Kingdom,Iraq
UK Police Seize Assault Weapons Smuggled from Iraq by Ex-Soldier
20 August 2012
Daily Mail (UK)
A former soldier has been jailed for 10 years after smuggling a cache of guns and ammunition from Iraq into the UK in a tank.
Ricardo McKenzie joined the Army in April 2001 as a private in the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, 1st Battalion, but sneaked the weapons into the UK in 2006.
The 35-year-old served in Iraq before being discharged from duty in September 2008, but was arrested on October 28, 2011, after a police raid on two homes in south London.
Inner... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Daily Mail (UK)
36487
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
Libya,Iraq,Eastern Europe,West Asia,North Africa
International Forum in Erbil, Kurdistan Addresses Spread of Small Arms
30 May 2012
Rudaw (Kurdistan)
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—More than twenty parliamentarians from North Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe took part in a conference in Erbil on Sunday about the social and political effects of small arms, and ways to combat its proliferation.
The conference, officially titled the "Parliamentary Seminar on Controlling Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons," was organized by the Swedish global network the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Rudaw (Kurdistan)
36193
Iraq
Kurdish Government Stops Issuing, Renewing Gun Licences
23 May 2012
Rudaw (Kurdistan)
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -- Hiwa Hassan, 34, visited the Erbil Governorate Office twice last year to renew his firearm license. He was turned down both times, even though he says he needs a firearm because his job requires him to constantly move between cities.
Hassan says, "A lot of times, I return home at night. I always have a Kalashnikov with me, but I have never shot a round. I carry a Kalashnikov for personal safety."
Hassan's firearm license expired a month ago.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Rudaw (Kurdistan)
36154
Iraq
Iraq Legalises Civilian Possession of Guns Amid Security Handover
6 May 2012
CRI English (China)
The Iraqi government on Sunday legalized the possession of one gun in each house in the country, as Iraqi army soldiers started the gradual handover of security control to the police, government officials said.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said in a statement that the Iraqi security authority "decided to license a rifle or a pistol in each house, on condition that the owner must register it (the gun) in the nearest police station."
Dabbagh warned that those... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CRI English (China)
36120
Ethiopia,South Africa,Burkina Faso,Sierra Leone,West Africa,Ukraine,Côte d'Ivoire,Eastern Europe,Russia,Central African Republic,Iraq,Afghanistan,United States,Colombia,Angola,Liberia,North Africa,West Asia,Africa
Shadowy 'Merchants of Death' Behind Africa's Illegal Gun-Running
11 April 2012
Think Africa Press (London)
Arms dealer Viktor Bout was sentenced to 25 years by a US federal court last week.
Widely known as the 'merchant of death', the 45-year-old Russian has delivered weapons and arms to a wide range of presidents, insurgents and rebels in Africa and the Middle East including the likes of Charles Taylor in Liberia and Jonas Savimbi in Angola. He was caught in a US sting in which his services were solicited for the supply of weapons to Colombia's FARC rebels.
His companies... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Think Africa Press (London)
36019
Iraq,Syria
Turnaround in Middle East: Iraqis Now Profit from Gun Smuggling to Syria
16 February 2012
Associated Press
BAGHDAD — The rifles are first taken apart and hidden in cigarette cartons and kerosene tanks. Younis al-Lehaibi and his sons then divide them into their trucks and head out to Iraq's vast, dusty border with Syria. Their objective: to smuggle weapons to Syrian rebels who seek the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.
It's a turnaround from the height of the Iraqi war six years ago, when weapons and fighters would cross from Syria to aid fellow Sunnis in Iraq.
Mindful... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35833
Iraq
Public Demands Gun Ban, Kurdistan Govt Stops Gun Sales, Possession
14 January 2012
AK News (Kurdistan)
KIRKUK - It is two days since the sale of guns were banned in Chamchamal. The city's gun shops have been closed and violators will be penalized.
Chamchamal deputy mayor, Tareq Rashid, told AKnews that all the licenses to sell guns will be annulled. No one will be allowed to deal with guns openly or concealed.
In June Kurdistan Region Interior Ministry ordered that only people in a few "special" posts or on certain occasions will be re-licensed to carry arms. But in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: AK News (Kurdistan)
35735
Syria,Iran,Iraq,Turkey
Civilians Have Easy Access to Illegal Guns in Kurdistan Black Market
3 December 2011
Kurdish Globe (Kurdistan)
Some see their firearms as further protection
Twenty years after the Kurdish uprising, civilians still keep guns in their homes.
Firearms remain widely accepted by people in a region where possession of unlicensed firearms is considered illegal.
A weapon that was once essential for their survival--especially in the 90s--still has not lost its appeal among civilians. Politicians gift guns as a tradition.
The gun market located outside of Erbil city is part of some 20... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Kurdish Globe (Kurdistan)
35634
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
Conspiracists Chatter as Secretive US Company Buys Up Gun, Ammo Makers
26 November 2011
New York Times
SCARBOROUGH, Me. - Lined up in a gun rack beneath mounted deer heads is a Bushmaster Carbon 15, a matte-black semiautomatic rifle that looks as if it belongs to a SWAT team. On another rack rests a Teflon-coated Prairie Panther from DPMS Firearms, a supplier to the United States Border Patrol and security agencies in Iraq. On a third is a Remington 750 Woodsmaster, a popular hunting rifle.
The variety of rifles and shotguns on sale here at Cabela's, the national... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35581
India,Afghanistan,Iraq,Sierra Leone,South Africa,Saudi Arabia,United States,United Kingdom,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
'The Shadow World', an Incisive Exposé of the ArmsTrade - Book Review
1 November 2011
Telegraph (UK), Book review
If there is one book unlikely to appear on the Christmas reading lists of the former defence secretary Liam Fox and his self-professed adviser Adam Werritty, one suspects that this is it. The sorry case of Dr Fox and the mystery chum-cum-lobbyist amplifies what critics of the defence procurement industry – Feinstein prefers the racier "global arms trade" – have long argued. To put it mildly, and in a nutshell, it is not known for its transparency. Nor, for that... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Telegraph (UK)
35511
South America,Central America,Caribbean,Central Africa,El Salvador,Iraq,Jamaica,Colombia,Sri Lanka,Central African Republic,Sudan,Congo (DRC),Mexico
Study Finds Again That Crime, Not War is Main Source of Gun Violence
29 October 2011
Associated Press
GENEVA — More people are killed by armed violence resulting from crime than are killed in war, with Latin America and a swath of countries through the middle of Africa among the hardest hit, an international study claimed Thursday.
About 526,000 people die violently every year — or more than 1,400 people every day — according to the 2011 Global Burden of Armed Violence report.
Only about 55,000 of those killed die in warfare, while an estimated 396,000 people... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35488
Canada,Iraq,Afghanistan
Canadian Groups Want Some Guns Banned Before Registry Is Scrapped
23 October 2011
Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
After finishing a rotation through Afghanistan with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, 22-year-old Dan Styles is back in Canada, safe and sound with his young family.
When he's not caring for his one-year-old baby daughter, Styles now spends a lot of his personal time at the shooting range near his home at CFB Petawawa, in eastern Ontario. There, he hones the skills he relied on in the field.
"It's practice, practice, practice," he says. "The better you get at it,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
35447
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
Libya,United States,Turkey,Jordan,Philippines,Iraq,Kuwait,Macedonia,Serbia
Celebratory Shooting Injuries: How Dangerous is Firing a Gun Into the Air?
22 August 2011
BBC News
Libyan rebels have celebrated their advance into Tripoli by firing guns in the air. How hazardous is this?
It is, unarguably, an emphatic way to display one's jubilation.
Shooting an automatic weapon into the sky to signal an occasion one welcomes is a popular practice in much of the world, as the footage of Libyan anti-Gaddafi forces seizing the main square of the capital city has demonstrated.
But it is a potentially fatal activity, which regularly results in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC News
35213
Colombia,United States,Mexico,Central America,Iraq,El Salvador,Guatemala,Honduras
Honduras Standing as the Epicenter of Central America's Arms Trade
13 August 2011
Honduras Weekly / InSight Crime
A recent report released by the National Commissioner for Human Rights (Conadeh), in Honduras indicates that there are more than 850,000 weapons in circulation in the country. Only 258,000 weapons, however, are officially registered. It is therefore hardly surprising, in a country with hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons, that as many as 80 percent of homicides are firearm related.
Traditionally, Hondurans have taken a rather liberal approach to gun ownership,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Honduras Weekly / InSight Crime
35190
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
The Right to Bear Arms Guaranteed for US Military Troops?
27 May 2011
Wall Street Journal, Blog
Tucked away in the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill that the House passed Thursday is a curious provision: an amendment that would ensure that troops deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq have the "right to bear arms."
You read that correctly. The House voted 260 to 160 to approve an amendment to the bill that would revise the military's "rules of engagement" to ensure troops in conflict zones can defend themselves.
Seem a bit redundant? Rep. John Mica (R., Fla.), who... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Wall Street Journal
34858
Iraq,Indonesia,Serbia,Jordan,Afghanistan
Serbian Weapon Maker Foresees 30% Rise in Sniper Rifle Exports
12 January 2011
Bloomberg (USA)
Zastava Oruzje, a Serbian weapons maker, made $17 million of sales abroad in 2010 and expects the figure to rise 30 percent this year as a result of contracts to sell sniper rifles to Jordan and Indonesia, Blic reported, citing General Manager Rade Gromovic.
The maker of handguns, military and hunting rifles also plans to continue supplying the Iraqi and Afghan armies until at least 2014, the newspaper... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Bloomberg (USA)
34075
Iraq,United States
Soldier Gets Probation for Smuggling Guns, AK-47 Home to US from Iraq
10 November 2010
Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh)
An Army National Guard soldier from northwestern Pennsylvania will spend two years on probation and must forfeit 11 guns, including an AK-47, that he lied about smuggling into the country after serving in Iraq.
James Bindeman, 42, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty before a federal judge in Erie in June.
Federal prosecutors say Bindeman hid the guns under the false bottom of a crate he built, telling Army officials it contained his power tools and golf... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh)
33620
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
Ex-Marines Arrested for Selling Assault Weapons to Los Angeles Gang
9 November 2010
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Federal agents have arrested three retired Marines suspected of selling illegal assault weapons to a notorious Los Angeles street gang, authorities said Tuesday.
The suspected ringleader, Adam Gitschlag, who served in Iraq and was once based at Camp Pendleton, was arrested at his Orange County home Nov. 2 as part of an operation carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as military investigators and local police.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
33612
Iraq
Senior Spy Accuses Iraqi PM of Giving Away US Guns in Bid to Buy Votes
2 March 2010
Sydney Morning Herald
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A senior Iraqi spy has accused the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, of handing out thousands of guns to tribal leaders in an attempt to win votes.
The claim was made by a former spokesman for the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, Saad al-Alusi, a week before Iraq's general election, in which allegations of vote buying and exorbitant handouts have been widespread.
Mr Maliki, who faces a bitterly contested final week of campaigning until the poll on... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Sydney Morning Herald
32248
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
US Rifle Sights Inscribed with 'Bible Codes' for War in Afghanistan
22 January 2010
al Jazeera
US-made rifles inscribed with Bible codes are being used by US forces and Afghans to fight the Taliban.
The weapons come from Trijicon, a manufacturer based in Wixom, Michigan, that supplies the US military. The company's now deceased founder, Glyn Bandon, started the practice which continues today.
David Chater, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Afghan capital Kabul, said: "It is a rallying cry for the Taliban. It gives them a propaganda tool.
"They've always tried... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: al Jazeera
31937
United States,Iraq
Security Contractor Weapons, Ammo, Seized in Iraqi Polce Raid
9 January 2010
Reuters
Police raided three locations in Baghdad on Friday, a week after Iraqi authorities were incensed by a U.S. judge's decision to throw out charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing over a dozen Iraqi civilians in 2007.
Officials said they are targeting private security companies that are no longer legally licensed to operate in Iraq.
"All those companies with their work permits expired are not allowed to move one meter inside Baghdad,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
31840
Iraq
Blackwater Shootings Inflame Iraqi Anti-American Sentiment
4 January 2010
Associated Press
BAGHDAD,Iraq - The Iraqi prime minister vowed Monday to seek punishment for the Blackwater guards accused of killing 17 people at a busy Baghdad intersection after U.S. courts dropped the case in a decision that outraged many Iraqis.
Nouri al-Maliki's comments were his first public reaction since a U.S. judge threw out the case against the five Blackwater guards last week.
The guards were accused of an unprovoked attack that left 17 dead. The killings inflamed... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
31777
Iraq
New Penalty for Shooting a Gun in Iraqi Province is 1million Dinars
5 October 2009
Aswat al-Iraq (Iraq)
MISSAN — Head of the Missan council's security committee announced on Monday imposing a fine of one million Iraqis dinars ($855) against those who open fire in the province.
"The security committee decided in coordination with the Missan council and police department to impose one million dinars as a fine for those who shoot in the province," Sarhan Salem Youni told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the punishment includes also confiscating the gun and sending... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Aswat al-Iraq (Iraq)
31152
Iraq
Kurds Give Guns to Supporters, Celebratory Gunfire Injures, Kills Dozens
18 August 2009
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
SULAIMANIYAH and ERBIL — Weapons loudly welcomed the outcome of Iraqi Kurdistan's latest political contest, and may even discreetly have helped determine it.
In the run-up to last month's election, politicians gifted guns to prominent supporters. When the results were announced, celebratory gunfire streaked the night skies.
Opposition leaders said the weapons had been dished out to buy votes. Their rivals denied this, arguing that they were honouring Kurdish... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Institute for War and Peace Reporting
30824
Iraq,United States
US Marines Recycle Small Arms from One Side of Iraq War to the Other
7 August 2009
US Marine Corps, Media release
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Marines with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), delivered roughly 900 captured enemy weapons to the Taji National Maintenance Depot aboard Camp Taji, Iraq, July 28, 2009.
This was one in a series of transfers that have taken place since 2004 under an agreement requiring enemy weapons captured by the U.S. military to be turned over to the Iraqi government for future use by the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police.
Staff Sgt. Alex P. Barros, the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: US Marine Corps
30724
United States,Iraq
'Deeply Angry' US Sergeant Shot, Killed 5 at Combat Stress Clinic in Iraq
13 May 2009
Associated Press
Keith Springle, who grew up swimming and fishing off the North Carolina coast and seemed destined as a boy to join the Navy, was in Iraq because it was his duty as a military psychologist. Dr. Matthew Houseal, a 54-year-old Army reservist and psychiatrist, was there because he felt he needed to be.
Regardless of how they came to be there, both made it their mission to help their fellow service members cope with the stress of life in the combat zone. Soldiers like the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
30066
Iraq,United States
Five Americans Shot Dead by US Soldier at Baghdad Military Stress Clinic
11 May 2009
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials say five Americans are dead after a U.S. soldier opened fire at a U.S. base in Baghdad. They say the attacker is in custody.
The officials say the shootings happened on Camp Liberty at a stress clinic, where troops can go for help with the stresses of combat or stress from personal issues.
One senior military official in Washington says it's unclear whether those killed are workers at the clinic or were there for counseling. He says... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
30063
United States,Iraq
Iraq-US Gun Smuggler Links Guns to Blackwater Guards Killing Civilians
6 May 2009
Associated Press
RALEIGH, North Carolina — A defense contractor charged with trying to smuggle firearms out of Iraq claimed Blackwater guards asked him to help get rid of weapons after a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad, two government informants say in court documents.
The contractor told one of the informants that Blackwater guards wanted to dispose of the weapons before an investigation into the September 2007 shooting that left several civilians dead, according to a criminal... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
30000
United States,Iraq
Special Forces Veteran 'Attempted to Smuggle' Iraqi Machine Guns to US
4 May 2009
Washington Examiner
Federal prosecutors say a former Army Special Forces soldier turned Department of Defense contractor attempted to smuggle eight machine guns from Iraq to Fort Bragg.
John A. Houston, who retired as a sergeant major in 2006 to become a security subcontractor working in Baghdad, allegedly sent the weapons, illegal under U.S. law, through contacts in the military.
He claimed to two government informants that some of the guns were given to him by Blackwater employees... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Examiner
29993
Pakistan,Iraq,Afghanistan
Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan Arming Village Vigilantes with Flood of Guns
4 March 2009
Christian Science Monitor
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — In the town of Budaber, six miles from Peshawar's city center, Daud Khan makes sure his Kalashnikov is loaded before stepping into the dark street. As he walks out, seven young men join him, all armed.
Mr. Khan is a member of the nighttime civilian patrols that guard the streets and escort residents home. They usually work from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., the peak time for bomb attacks, a local says.
Do-it-yourself security teams are becoming a fixture in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Christian Science Monitor
29370
United States,Iraq
Blackwater 'On Probation' Over Illegal Gun, Ammo Exports from US to Iraq
17 December 2008
Associated Press
RALEIGH, North Carolina — The State Department has issued new regulations to closely monitor how Blackwater Worldwide exports sensitive equipment, such as guns and ammunition, putting the security contractor on probation amid probes into how the company handled arms shipments to Iraq.
The so-called "policy of denial" was posted Wednesday. It requires the North Carolina company and its affiliates to file extra paperwork and progress reports, which the State Department... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
28852
United States,Iraq
US to Ship Another 105,000 Assault Rifles to Iraq to 'Replace' AK-47s
15 December 2008
Defense Industry Daily (USA)
In March 2008, "Iraq's Military Requesting $1.39B in Weapons, Vehicles, and Equipment" discussed that country's decisive shift to the M-16/M4 family of weapons for its soldiers. Previous DSCA purchase requests in October 2007 and September 2006 has also included the rifles, but by February 2008, it became clear that this was a full replacement program for the AK-derivative 7.62mm designs that had become so ubiquitous in that part of the world.
The latest official... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Defense Industry Daily (USA)
28851
Iraq,United States
Confiscating Toy Guns from Children Is Part of US Military Mission in Iraq
12 December 2008
Associated Press
MAHMOUDIYA, Iraq — Two boys approached a U.S. soldier, pulled out a pistol and handed it over. They got a smile and some candy in return.
The gun was plastic, and the boys were following a local Iraqi military order to surrender all toy weapons — an effort to prevent children from being mistaken for insurgents.
With more children on the streets now that violence is down, American soldiers have a new mission in this former "triangle of death" city south of Baghdad:... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
28798
United States,Iraq
US Defense Dept Plans to Send Another 105,000 Assault Rifles to Iraq
10 December 2008
US Defense Security Cooperation Agency
WASHINGTON — On Dec. 9, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of (80,000) M16A4 5.56MM Rifles, (25,000) M4 5.56MM Carbines, (2,550) M203 40MM Grenade Launchers as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $148 million.
The Government of Iraq has requested a possible sale of (80,000) M16A4 5.56MM Rifles, (25,000) M4 5.56MM Carbines,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency
28800
Iraq,Bulgaria
Kurds in Northern Iraq Receive 3 Planeloads of Guns, Arms from Bulgaria
23 November 2008
Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD — Kurdish officials this fall took delivery of three planeloads of small arms and ammunition imported from Bulgaria, three U.S. military officials said, an acquisition that occurred outside the weapons procurement procedures of Iraq's central government.
The large quantity of weapons and the timing of the shipment alarmed U.S. officials, who have grown concerned about the prospect of an armed confrontation between Iraqi Kurds and the government at a time when... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post Foreign Service
28686
Afghanistan,Iraq,Russia,Bulgaria
Bulgaria, 7 Other Nations Make 'Unlicensed, Illegal' AK-47s, Export to Iraq
20 November 2008
FOCUS News Agency (Bulgaria) / Praim-TASS
MOSCOW — 7-8 countries in the world are currently dealing with unlicensed production of machine guns "Kalashnikov", Nikolay Dimidyuk from Rosoboronexport said, cited by Praim-TASS.
According to his evaluation there was a total nuisance in the world regarding the production of 'false' Kalashnikov guns, in particular in Bulgaria.
'I will not mention other countries, so as not to offend them. The Americans allowed Bulgaria to build a factory for the production of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: FOCUS News Agency (Bulgaria) / Praim-TASS
28672
United States,Iraq,Jordan
Blackwater Faces Millions in Fines for 'Unauthorised' US-Iraq Gun Exports
9 November 2008
Public Record (USA), Web Page
Private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide may be slapped with millions of dollars in fines by the State Department for shipping weapons to law enforcement facilities in Iraq and Jordan without authorization, according to a report published in the magazine Government Executive.
"Officials in the Commerce Department, which has jurisdiction over some military exports, are conducting a related regulatory review of Blackwater shipments," the magazine reported, citing... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Public Record (USA)
28649
United States,Iraq
Weapon Leak Feared in Blackwater's 'Improper' Gun Shipments to Iraq
7 November 2008
CongressDaily (USA)
Private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, often a target of congressional Democrats, soon may face new legal problems.
A grand jury in Washington is expected to decide soon whether to indict individual Blackwater guards involved in a widely publicized shooting incident in Baghdad last year, two people familiar with the investigation said. And the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, which is responsible for export controls on some arms, is... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CongressDaily (USA)
28602
Pakistan,Iraq,China
Tens of Thousands More AK-47s Given to Tribal Fighters in Pakistan, Iraq
24 October 2008
Australian (Sydney)
Anti-Taliban tribal fighters in Pakistan's border region will be given tens of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles bought from China in a bid to replicate the success of the "Sunni Awakening" movement in Iraq.
The deal to buy the weapons and other small arms was negotiated by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari when he was in Beijing this month, reports said yesterday.
The Washington Post said the weapons would go to the so-called tribal lashkars (armies) that are... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Australian (Sydney)
28490
United States,Iraq
US Can Finally Track Guns Given to Iraq: Bush Signs White House Letter
23 October 2008
Chicago Tribune / The Swamp, Blog
It took years to reach this point but the Bush Administration has finally put in place a system to track the weapons it's providing to Iraqi security forces.
For years, there've been concerns about thousands of weapons delivered to the Iraqi military and police that have gone missing with the obvious fear that some have wound up in enemy hands to be used against the U.S. military.
The White House notified Congress today by letter:
The White House
Office of the Press... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Chicago Tribune / The Swamp
28503
Iraq
Americans Prevent Gun Violence in Baghdad More Than They Do At Home
16 October 2008
Stars and Stripes (US Military)
BAGHDAD — In the past, the soldiers with 1st Battalion, 68th Infantry would have had no problem finding an AK-47 assault rifle in Omar Abdul Satar's home. Iraqis have a long history of owning guns, and few homes in the country are without one.
But the government is trying to change that. It recently decided to prohibit guns in the capital. That was bad news for Satar. When the U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts found his AK, they confiscated it and took it... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Stars and Stripes (US Military)
28457
Iraq
After Killings and Kidnappings, Iraq Govt Says Doctors Can Carry Guns
29 September 2008
Reuters
BAGDHAD — Doctors in Iraq will have the right to carry guns to protect themselves, the government said on Monday, in a bid to address the security concerns of a profession that has been targeted by gangsters and militants.
Thousands of Iraqi doctors have fled over the past five years, leaving the country desperately short of qualified medical personnel. Doctors held a conference in Baghdad in June to ask for better protection.
"Under a new government decree, the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
28343
United States,Albania,Iraq
Pentagon Gave $298 Million Iraq Ammo Deal to 'Total Nerd' Gun Dealer
25 September 2008
Miami New Times
David Packouz talks about nanotech the way 12-year-old girls talk about Zac Efron. In a great, fawning gush of words, he explains it will bring about a technological utopia on Earth. Humans, he says, will interface with computers, replace their bodies with machinery, and become immortal. Spacecraft will mine asteroids, and robots will reach human levels of intelligence and self-replicate. "At that point," he says, looking excited and a little worried, "we can only hope... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Miami New Times
28320
United States,United Kingdom,Iraq,United Nations
US, UK Failing to Monitor Flood of Million Guns into Iraq, Amnesty Warns
17 September 2008
Guardian (UK)
Iraq is being flooded with weapons despite human rights violations by all parties in the conflict there, and without any proper monitoring by the US and Britain over where the weapons end up, Amnesty International says today.
There is no clear accountable audit trail for some 360,000 small arms supplied to the Iraqi security forces, many by the US and UK, it says. Subcontracting makes the arms trade even less transparent. Among examples cited by Amnesty are the supply... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
28220
United States,United Kingdom,Italy,Afghanistan,Iraq
Lax Management by US, UK, Italy Armed al-Qaida, Says Amnesty Report
17 September 2008
Middle East Times (Cairo) / UPI
WASHINGTON — Weak oversight of arms deals by the United States, England and Italy resulted in the illicit arming of al-Qaida, a new report by Amnesty International says.
The international non-governmental organization says that despite new measures implemented to regulate arms deals, thousands of weapons have ended up in the hands of al-Qaida militants operating in Iraq, Amnesty International reported.
The report, titled "Blood at the Crossroads: Making the Case for... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Middle East Times (Cairo) / UPI
28214
Iraq,Afghanistan,United Nations,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Albania,Serbia
Iraq, Afghan Wars, Exports from Bosnia, Albania Hurt Bid to Destroy Guns
15 July 2008
Agence France Presse
UNITED NATIONS — The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are undermining efforts to destroy surplus weapons by creating new markets for countries to sell their unwanted firearms, according to a survey.
Although the world is witnessing "the largest systematic destruction of military small arms and light weapons since the end of World War II," countries that would normally have destroyed their surplus weapons are now being encouraged to export them, the Small Arms Survey 2008... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Agence France Presse
27687
Iraq,United States
Stray Weapons, Careless Gun Handling, Storage at US Embassy, Baghdad
10 July 2008
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Trying to escape Baghdad's sweltering summer with a quick Green Zone dip? Don't forget your poolside weapons etiquette if you work at the U.S. Embassy there.
Despite previous appeals, embassy employees with permission to carry guns are apparently not heeding strict rules that require arms to be within their reach or with a designated person at all times, even at the pool, The Associated Press has learned. And if you're packing heat, forget about a beer... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
27646
Iraq
Soccer Fans Will be Arrested in Iraq if Caught Firing Guns in Celebration
22 June 2008
Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD — Sports became a surprise topic Sunday during a routine news briefing by the U.S. and Iraqi armed forces on the battle against the insurgency.
With Iraq's beloved national soccer team poised to qualify for the World Cup in its game against Qatar on Sunday night, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Iraqi government's "Imposing the Law" campaign, delivered a stern warning to gun owners — essentially every adult male in Iraq.
It was a concept every... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
27431
Serbia,Iraq
Serbia Begins Exporting Another 18,000 Handguns to Iraqi Security Forces
2 June 2008
B92 Radio (Belgrade)
KRAGUJEVAC, Serbia — The first consignment of CZ 99 handguns destined for the Iraq market will be shipped out of the Zastava factory three weeks ahead of schedule.
Even though the first shipment was first planned for July, according to CEO Rade Gromovic, the weapons are ready and the permits necessary for exporting them have been secured, so the date has been shifted to June 11.
This will mark the official beginning of the realization of an arms export agreement... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: B92 Radio (Belgrade)
27271
United States,Iraq
US Marine Won't Serve Time for Smuggling AK-47 'War Trophy' from Iraq
2 June 2008
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO - A Marine sergeant from El Paso, Texas, accused of bringing an AK-47 assault rifle home from Iraq as a war trophy accepted a plea deal Monday that will keep him out of federal prison.
Sgt. Leonardo San Juan agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of possession of an unregistered firearm and pay a $100 fine, said his attorney, Joseph Low.
San Juan accepted the deal shortly before jury selection was set to begin. A judge still must approve the deal.
San... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
27269
Iraq
To Curb Children's Aggressive Behaviour, Iraq Mulls Ban on Toy Gun Imports
22 April 2008
Associated Press
BAGHDAD — A parliamentary committee is drafting a bill that would ban imports of toy guns and fireworks into Iraq, hoping to curb increasingly aggressive behavior among children who have grown up amid real war, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
"The culture of violence has prevailed in our society and controlled the Iraqi family, and that has affected the culture of children," said Samira al-Moussawi, head of parliament's committee on children and women, which is preparing... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
26938
Iraq
Cash Reward Offered to Baghdad Fighters Who Give Up Their Guns
29 March 2008
Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Friday extended a deadline for fighters to disarm after nobody responded, and U.S. forces were pulled deeper into the showdown between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen.
The United States military said a Navy jet had strafed a mortar-launching position in the southern city of Basra with 20-millimeter cannon fire Thursday night, killing three "criminal militia members." It was the first time U.S. forces were directly... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
26657
United States,Afghanistan,Iraq,China
US Army Accuses Miami Gun Dealer of Fraud in $200m Afghan Ammo Deal
28 March 2008
New York Times
When the United States Army decided this week to suspend the main supplier of munitions to Afghan security forces from future federal work, it did so after a field investigation documented what it called an act of fraud.
Last Nov. 25, the president of the company, Efraim E. Diveroli, signed papers certifying that 28 pallets of ammunition for Afghanistan had been manufactured by MFS 2000, a Hungarian company, according to the investigators' memorandum.
Acting on a tip,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
26632
Iraq,United States
US Fuels Iraq War with Another 437,079 M16, M4 Assault Rifles Over 3 Years
26 March 2008
Defense Industry Daily (USA)
As Iraq's military gets back to its feet, it has received armored vehicles, up-armored Hummers, and assorted weapons, vehicles, and aircraft. The initial priority on armed combat forces that could be supported by American combat logistics has started to give way to a buildup of Iraq's own logistics and maintenance capabilities.
On March 21/08, the US DSCA announced a formal request by Iraq's government for various vehicles, small arms and ammunition, communication... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Defense Industry Daily (USA)
26636
United States,Iraq
200,000 Missing Guns at Centre of US, Iraq, Kuwait Military Corruption Probe
16 March 2008
KippReport (Dubai) / Trends Magazine
Major Gloria D. Davis of the US Army was buried in Washington's Arlington Cemetery, the last resting place of many of America's military heroes, on December 23, 2006. But the 47-year-old Davis, of Missouri, an 18-year army veteran, did not perish fighting her country's enemies.
Instead, the US Army said, she died in "a non-combat-related incident" in Iraq. In fact, Gloria Davis put a bullet in her brain on December 12 in her quarters in the sprawling US military base... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: KippReport (Dubai) / Trends Magazine
26475
Iraq
Iraqis Quietly Reverse Decision to Strip Female Police Officers of Guns
1 February 2008
Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD — Iraqi police officials have dropped plans to disarm policewomen and give their guns to male officers after an outcry from critics, who said the move was a sign of religious zealots' rising influence in Iraq.
Despite the turnabout, which police confirmed Thursday, the U.S. military general who introduced women into the police force said they remained hindered in their attempts to practice real policing skills.
"Even with the revocation order, we will have... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
26004
United States,Iraq
US Still Can't Track, Trace, Prevent Diversion of Weapons Sent to Iraq
29 January 2008
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Weapons the U.S. provides to Iraqi security forces may still be ending up in the hands of terrorists, insurgents and criminals, the Defense Department inspector general told Congress on Tuesday.
While U.S. commanders have made progress in controlling the flow of tens of thousands of munitions into Iraq, "there still remains work to be accomplished," Claude Kicklighter said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press.
Appearing behind closed... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
25981
United Kingdom,Iraq
Gun Used to Shoot Policewoman Linked to UK Troops Smuggling Weapons
30 December 2007
United Press International
NOTTINGHAM, England — Authorities have linked a gun used in a recent attempted homicide in Britain to the country's military.
National Ballistics Intelligence Program officers said the weapon used to shoot police officer Rachael Brown in the city of Nottingham was likely smuggled back from Afghanistan or Iraq by British troops, or was stolen from one of the country's military bases, The Observer reported Sunday.
While the federal program has been tracking a number... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: United Press International
25731
Iraq
Iraqis Celebrate by Firing Guns Into the Air, Stray Bullet Hits British Officer
23 December 2007
Sky News (UK)
An RAF officer had a lucky escape despite being hit by a stray bullet during celebratory gunfire by a group of Iraqis.
Flight Lieutenant Neil Lawrenson was wearing body armour — but the round went into his upper arm.
However, it entered at such an angle that it left almost no damage and did not hit any bone or muscle.
If the bullet, which fell from the sky in Basra, had gone in at a different angle, the British airman could have lost his arm.
He was even more... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Sky News (UK)
25700
Serbia,Iraq
Serbia: Iraq Buys Another $230m Worth of Assault Weapons, Ammunition
21 December 2007
ADN Kronos International / AKI (Italy)
BELGRADE — Serbia has signed a deal to export weapons and military equipment to Iraq worth 230 million dollars, defence minister Dragan Sutanovac told Belgrade television late on Thursday.
Sutanovac said that the delegation of the Iraqi defence ministry visited Serbia on two occasions in recent months and the deal was signed with the state military trade company Jugoimport SDPR.
He didn't specify which weapons had been sold to Iraq, but Serbia produces only light... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: ADN Kronos International / AKI (Italy)
25697
United States,Iraq
Pentagon Rushes to Release Delayed Gun Shipments to Iraq, Curb Leakage
21 December 2007
Times of India / AP
WASHINGTON — The US Defence Department is reinforcing a badly understaffed office in Baghdad to speed the flow of war-fighting gear to Iraqi forces and to make sure the weapons do not end up in the hands of insurgents or on the black market.
The nearly 1,000 per cent increase in staff — from six people to almost 70 — includes a two-star general, who arrived in Iraq two weeks ago to manage the expanding team. Army Reserve Maj Gen George Smith replaces a colonel,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Times of India / AP
25671
United States,Iraq
Pentagon Probes Possible GI Theft, Leakage of Up to 190,000 Guns to Iraq
20 December 2007
Time (USA)
The Pentagon is investigating whether some of the 190,000 weapons the U.S. military lost track of while training Iraqi troops were peddled on the black market by American soldiers and contractors, federal law-enforcement and congressional sources tell TIME. In recent weeks, Claude Kicklighter, the Pentagon's inspector general, has privately told lawmakers that the Defense Criminal Investigative Service has launched a probe into whether U.S. military and civilian... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Time (USA)
25672
Iraq
US Drive to Train, Arm Female Iraqi Police Thwarted by Religious Leaders
13 December 2007
Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government has ordered all policewomen to hand in their guns for redistribution to men or face having their pay withheld, thwarting a U.S. initiative to bring women into the nation's police force.
The Ministry of Interior, which oversees police, issued the order late in November, according to ministry documents, U.S. officials and several of the women.
It affects all officers who have earned the title "policewoman" by graduating from the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
25622
Iraq,United States
Iraqi Soldiers Trade Iconic Soviet Assault Rifle, AK-47, for American M16
2 December 2007
Los Angeles Times
BESMAYA RANGE, Iraq — The company of Iraqi soldiers pressed together for the dance of valor, singing of their bravery, stomping in the desert sand, thrusting their weapons skyward, just as they might have done not so many years ago to honor Saddam Hussein.
But what were those sleek silhouettes they jabbed into the air? Not AK-47s. The iconic Soviet bloc assault rifle that has been synonymous for decades with America's adversaries and the developing world is being... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
25504
United Kingdom,Iraq,Germany
British Soldiers Smuggled Guns from Iraq, Sold in Germany: Got 10yrs Jail
23 November 2007
BBC News
Two soldiers who smuggled guns out of Iraq intending to sell them to army colleagues have been jailed.
Lance Corporal Michael White, 28, was jailed for 10 years and Corporal Anthony Creswick, 25, given nine-and-half years.
Both men from the 3rd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, along with Lance Corporal Brent Campbell who bought a gun, were also thrown out of the army.
The Court Martial at Catterick Garrison in North Yorks ran for six weeks.
Lance Corporal... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC News
25431
Serbia,Iraq
Iraq Purchasing Serbian Sniper Rifles, Assault Weapons for US$50million
19 November 2007
SEESAC (Belgrade) / VIP News Service
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense is planning to buy weapons worth 50 million dollars from Serbia. For this reason the Iraqi Minister of Defense Abdul Qadr Jasim is currently visiting Serbia to negotiate the terms of this major acquisition, the Press daily reported on Saturday.
In Belgrade, Jasim met with the Serbian Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac and visited the Serbian arms industry.
The Iraqis are planning to buy large quantities of infantry weapons and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: SEESAC (Belgrade) / VIP News Service
25373
United States,Iraq
Baghdad Armoury Resembled 'Arms Bazaar' as US Lost Track of Its Guns
11 November 2007
New York Times
WASHINGTON — As the insurgency in Iraq escalated in the spring of 2004, American officials entrusted an Iraqi businessman with issuing weapons to Iraqi police cadets training to help quell the violence.
By all accounts, the businessman, Kassim al-Saffar, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, did well at distributing the Pentagon-supplied weapons from the Baghdad Police Academy armory he managed for a military contractor. But, co-workers say, he also turned the armory into... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
25277
United States,Iraq
Iraq Complains at US Delay in Supplying 50,750 Additional M16 Assault Rifles
3 November 2007
Boston Globe
WASHINGTON — More than a year after the government of Iraq paid more than $2 billion to the US government to purchase weapons and equipment for their military and police force, most of the equipment has yet to be delivered, slowing the ability of Iraqi units to take greater responsibility for their country's security, according to Iraqi officials.
In October 2006, Iraq obtained congressional approval to purchase 50,750 M16 rifles and 24 King Air reconnaissance... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Boston Globe
25206
Iraq,Germany,United Kingdom
British Soldier Guilty of Smuggling Guns from Iraq to Sell in Germany
26 October 2007
BBC News
A British soldier has been found guilty of plotting to smuggle guns out of Iraq and sell them at his base in Germany.
A court martial heard how L/Cpl Anthony Creswick was involved in selling illegal pistols bought on the black market in Basra.
The panel heard how Creswick sold the guns with his colleague from the 3rd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, L/Cpl Michael White.
White has admitted his role in the operation he ran with Creswick in 2005.
Creswick was... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC News
25125
United States,United Nations,Iraq
US Small Arms Policy: Having It Both Ways - Susan Waltz [Part 2 of 2]
19 October 2007
World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
[Continued from Part 1 of 2]
Prying Open the Door
Covert actions provide an additional, separate legal channel for shadow transfers. The statutory underpinnings for such operations, including weapons transfers, are found in the National Security Act, incorporated into Title 50 of the U.S. Code under the heading of War and National Defense. (The Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act, by contrast, are included in Title 22, Foreign Relations.) Title 50's... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
25262
Iraq
Baghdad Girls & Boys 'Armed to the Teeth' with Imitation Assault Rifles
19 October 2007
Agence France Presse
BAGHDAD — Try as he might, Baghdad businessman Ibrahim Georges can't persuade his 11-year-old daughter Sandy to lay down her arms in favour of something less hostile, such as a doll.
"She loves her gun," Georges said as Sandy, short-haired and dressed in long trousers and T-shirt, proudly displayed a menacing GC toy automatic rifle that, according to a bold stamp on the side, was made in China.
"She never plays with dolls," added Georges ruefully, outside their home... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Agence France Presse
25056
United States,Iraq
US Quietly Shifts Iraqis from AK-47s, Sells 123,544 New M-16 Assault Rifles
8 October 2007
Wall Street Journal
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — In this war-ravaged country, a man is often measured by the make of his gun.
When Iraqi soldier Abbas Ali Eadan picked up his brand new, U.S.-made M-16 rifle in August at this sprawling base north of Baghdad, his pride was palpable.
"I can put a cigarette in an ashtray and hit it with my M-16 from far away, like a sniper," boasted the 39-year-old. "The terrorists may have rockets and grenades, but only the Iraqi army has M-16s."
This spring,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Wall Street Journal
24904
Serbia,Iraq,Afghanistan,United Nations
Serbian Gun Runner Shipped Tons of Guns, Ammunition to Various Conflicts
7 October 2007
New York Times
NIS, Serbia — For the past four years Tomislav Damnjanovic has played a crucial role in the United States' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2003, he has delivered millions of rounds of ammunition, guns, grenades and mortars to the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, United Nations officials say, facts he does not dispute. His aircraft have even been used to shuttle supplies between American bases in Iraq, saving troops from having to make hazardous trips by land.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
24887
United States,Iraq
US Delivered Bulk Weapons to Iraq, But Lost Track of At Least 190,000 Guns
30 September 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer / AP
WASHINGTON — As President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry clashed in late 2004 over the direction of the Iraq war, a rising Army star joined the debate.
David H. Petraeus, then a lieutenant general and head of a new command overseeing the training and equipping of Iraq's security forces, said headway was being made.
Tens of thousands of rifles, pistols, sets of body armor, vehicles and radios, along with millions of rounds of ammunition, had been delivered... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Philadelphia Inquirer / AP
24831
United States,Iraq
Pentagon Wants to Sell More Guns: 123,544 M-16 Assault Rifles to Iraq
26 September 2007
Reuters
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday told Congress it was ready to sell Iraq up to $2.3 billion worth of weapons to help the Iraqi Army expand and take over missions now carried out by U.S. and allied forces.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign military sales, said the sale would include vehicles, small arms ammunition, explosives and communications equipment, as well as upgrades to 32 additional UH-1 helicopters built by Textron Inc... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
24810
United States,Iraq
Pentagon Plans to Sell 135,579 Guns, 169 Million Rounds of Ammo to Iraq
25 September 2007
US Department of Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), Media release
WASHINGTON — The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of various vehicles, small arms ammunition, explosives, and communications equipment as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.257 billion.
The Government of Iraq has requested a possible sale of the following:
MDE includes:
(980) M1151 High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: US Department of Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)
24812
United States,Iraq
M-16 Standard US Military Rifle 50 Years Old, Still Plagued With Problems
24 September 2007
PBS TV NewsHour (USA), Transcript
The M-16 semiautomatic rifle. With its shorter version, the M-4, it's the gun of our troops in combat. The hat's for the sun, by the way; the earmuffs for the noise. Jim Sullivan helped design this rifle during the Eisenhower administration.
JIM SULLIVAN, M-16 Co-Designer: Fifty years ago.
PAUL SOLMAN: Fifty years ago?
JIM SULLIVAN: Well, we started on it 50 years ago this month.
PAUL SOLMAN: That's 1957, the year the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. In the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: PBS TV NewsHour (USA)
24789
United States,Iraq
Blackwater Denies US-Iraq Gun Smuggling, Reported Gun Thieves to Feds
22 September 2007
BBC News
A US company that provides security for US diplomats in Iraq has denied as "baseless" allegations that it was involved in weapons smuggling.
Blackwater's statement follows reports of a US investigation into allegations that some employees sent unlicensed weapons and equipment to Iraq.
The weapons could have been used by a group labelled as terrorist by the US.
Blackwater has been blamed by Iraqi officials for a Baghdad gunfight in which 11 civilians died last... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC News
24768
United States,Iraq
US Feds Investigate Blackwater for Gun Running: Illegal Weapons to Iraq
22 September 2007
New York Times / Reuters
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are looking into whether private U.S. security contractor Blackwater USA has shipped unlicensed automatic weapons and military goods into Iraq, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Two former Blackwater employees have pleaded guilty in Greenville, North Carolina, to weapons charges and are cooperating with the investigation, The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina reported.
Federal prosecutors in North Carolina are handling the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times / Reuters
24758
United States,Iraq,Turkey
Blackwater, Staff Investigated for Smuggling Illegal Guns from US to Iraq
21 September 2007
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh, N.C., is handling the investigation with help from Pentagon and State Department auditors, who have concluded there is enough evidence to file... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
24741
United States,Iraq
US to Send Another $3-4 Billion Worth of Guns to Iraq: Who'll Get Them?
18 September 2007
Salon (USA)
WASHINGTON — The grand debate about Gen. David Petraeus' Capitol Hill testimony last week on U.S. strategy in Iraq focused primarily on troop levels, withdrawal dates and whether Bush's so-called troop surge was succeeding. But widely overlooked was Petraeus' sales pitch to lawmakers for one initiative he said will help save the war-torn country: massive arms sales from the U.S. government to Iraq.
"Iraq is becoming one of the United States' larger foreign military... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Salon (USA)
24711
United States,Iraq,Turkey
American Guns, Once Donated to Iraqis, Turn Up as Crime Guns in Turkey
30 August 2007
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Weapons that were originally given to Iraqi security forces by the American military have been recovered over the past year by the authorities in Turkey after being used in violent crimes in that country, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.
The discovery that serial numbers on pistols and other weapons recovered in Turkey matched those distributed to Iraqi police units has prompted growing concern by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that controls on... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
24541
United States,Iraq,Turkey,Kuwait
Pentagon Launches Search for Missing Guns, Middle East Contract Fraud
29 August 2007
Reuters
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's independent watchdog has launched a probe into the military's inability to account for weapons in Iraq after reports that Kurdish militants were using U.S. arms to attack Turkey, the Defense Department said on Wednesday.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the department's inspector general will go to Iraq next week with an 18-member assessment team to investigate the problem.
"Since January, the inspector general's office has been... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
24528
United States,Iraq
US Police Run Short of Ammo as American Wars Consume Billions of Bullets
28 August 2007
Washington Post
The U.S. military's soaring demand for small-arms ammunition, fueled by two wars abroad, has left domestic police agencies less able to quickly replenish their supplies, leading some to conserve rounds by cutting back on weapons training, police officials said.
To varying degrees, officials in Montgomery, Loudoun and Anne Arundel counties said, they have begun rationing or making other adjustments to accommodate delivery schedules that have changed markedly since the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post
24506
Italy,Iraq
Italian Luggage Search Unearths Huge Iraq, Libya Gun Trafficking Deals
12 August 2007
Associated Press
PERUGIA, Italy — In a hidden corner of Rome's busy Fiumicino Airport, police dug quietly through a traveler's checked baggage, looking for smuggled drugs. What they found instead was a catalog of weapons, a clue to something bigger.
Their discovery led anti-Mafia investigators down a months-long trail of telephone and e-mail intercepts, into the midst of a huge black-market transaction, as Iraqi and Italian partners haggled over shipping more than 100,000... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
24402
Iraq,United States
Tide of Legal, Illegal Guns Floods Iraq as US, Smugglers Pour in Weapons
12 August 2007
International Herald Tribune / AP
BAGHDAD — Since the U.S. invasion in 2003, when looters ransacked armories and deserting Iraqi soldiers took their rifles home, this bloodied land has been flooded by a sea of weapons fed from both the legal and illegal market.
Besides more than 700,000 rifles and other weapons arming the new Iraqi army and police, at least 7 million guns are believed in the hands of civilians, including insurgents and sectarian militias, in a nation of 27 million, the Geneva-based... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: International Herald Tribune / AP
24387
United States,Iraq
Now, What Did I Do With Those 190,000 AK-47s and Pistols in Iraq?
8 August 2007
Chicago Sun-Times, Editorial
Flabbergasted. That's how we feel about the United States' misplacement of billions of dollars in weapons meant to train Iraqi military and police.
We aren't talking lost keys, here, but assault rifles and pistols — at least 190,000. The U.S. Government Accountability Office discovered that the weapons — mostly AK-47s and Glock pistols — were missing during a routine audit, released a few days ago. The weapons were mislaid between 2004 and 2005, and the Pentagon... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Chicago Sun-Times
24373
United States,Iraq
Pentagon Lost Almost 200,000 AK-47 Assault Rifles, Handguns in Iraq
6 August 2007
CNN
WASHINGTON — Nearly 200,000 U.S.-supplied rifles and pistols meant for Iraqi security forces are unaccounted for in Iraq, according to a report to Congress.
Loose record-keeping caused the Pentagon and the U.S. command in Iraq to lose track of about 110,000 AK-47 rifles and 80,000 pistols provided to the new Iraqi national police and army, the Government Accountability Office told Congress.
The investigative arm of Congress, the GAO also found that 250,000 pieces... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CNN
24349
Iraq,United States
190,000 Assault Rifles, Handguns Given to Iraq Are Missing - US Govt Audit
6 August 2007
Washington Post
The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.
The author of the report from the Government Accountability Office says U.S. military officials do not know what happened to 30 percent of the weapons the United States distributed to Iraqi forces... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post
24336
Iraq
7 Dead, 50 Wounded by Stray Bullets as Iraqi Soccer Fans Fire Guns in Air
29 July 2007
Reuters
BAGHDAD — Crowds of ecstatic Iraqis wept tears of joy and fired rifles into the air on Sunday after their soccer team's victory in the Asian Cup triggered the biggest street celebrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Police in Baghdad and Kut reported at least seven deaths and more than 50 people wounded by stray bullets as gun-toting revelers took to the streets in a wave of euphoria unprecedented after four years of war.
Unlike earlier in the week, when... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
24281
Iraq
Stray Bullets Killed At Least 7 Iraqis in Previous Soccer Win Celebrations
29 July 2007
Associated Press
BAGHDAD — Defying orders from authorities, revelers fired celebratory gunshots and poured into the streets after Iraq beat Saudi Arabia to clinch its first Asian Cup soccer championship today.
Mosques broadcast calls for the shooting to stop, and security forces enforced a vehicle ban in an effort to prevent a repeat of car bombings that killed dozens celebrating Iraq's progress to the finals Wednesday.
Iraqis welcomed the victory as a chance to show the world they... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
24280
United States,Iraq
Is Baghdad Safer Than Chicago? Barack Obama's Claim Examined
19 July 2007
Time (USA)
This past Sunday, Barack Obama gave a speech at the Vernon Park Church of God in Chicago in which he noted that the number of city schoolchildren killed in the last school year was higher than the number of soldiers from all of Illinois killed in Iraq over the same period. "From South Central L.A. to Newark, New Jersey, there's an epidemic of violence that's sickening the soul of this nation," the Illinois Senator told the crowd. "The violence is unacceptable and it's... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Time (USA)
24187
Iraq,Australia
One of Saddam's Golden Guns Given to Australian War Memorial Museum
17 June 2007
Courier-Mail (Brisbane) / AAP
A gold-plated assault rifle, once carried by one of the late Saddam Hussein's palace guards, will go on display at the Australian War Memorial.
The eye-catching weapon was today handed by army deputy chief Major General John Cantwell to war memorial assistant director Nola Anderson today for permanent display in the new post-1945 gallery.
War Memorial senior curator Nick Fletcher said this is a fully functional Iraqi-manufactured Tabuk, a version of the ubiquitous... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Courier-Mail (Brisbane) / AAP
23927
Moldova,Iraq,Russia,West Asia
Former KGB Smuggles Russian Guns from Transnistria, Moldova to Iraq
22 March 2007
CBN News (Manila), Transcript
It's an all-too-familiar scene — Islamic insurgents attacking U.S. troops near Baghdad. But where are these radicals getting their support to take on the American military machine?
While much of the world blames Iran and Syria, evidence points to help coming from thousands of miles away.
Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation said, "Of course, we see a large number of small weapons turning up in Iraq in the hands of Hezbollah, and in other places in the Middle... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CBN News (Manila)
23120
Iraq,United States
Iraq's $3 Billion Gun Buying Binge as US Pours In M16, M4 Assault Rifles
20 March 2007
Washington Examiner
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has begun delivering more than $3 billion in U.S-made arms to Iraq in a new program to introduce American firepower into Iraq's aging Soviet-based arsenal.
When the Pentagon first began building the 320,000-strong Iraq Security Force in 2003, U.S. commanders decided to keep AK-47 rifles and other East Bloc gear. The theory was it would speed the training process since the Iraqis already knew how to use them.
Now, however,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Examiner
23095
Malta,Iraq,Italy,Libya,China,Russia
Maltese Company, Libya, China Accused of Gun Running to Iraqi Insurgents
15 February 2007
Independent (Malta)
Italian authorities yesterday announced they had interrupted an international arms trafficking deal that was to have operated between China, Malta, Italy and Libya, and which planned to supply hundreds of thousands of weapons to Iraqi insurgents, international media reported yesterday.
The operation was to have seen an unnamed Maltese company acting as a middleman between Chinese weapons producers and Libyan buyers, who would, in turn, move the weapons on to Iraqi... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Independent (Malta)
22762
Austria,Iran,Iraq
Austria 'Not Responsible' for Sniper Rifles Exported to Iran, Used in Iraq
14 February 2007
Telegraph (UK)
Austria yesterday washed its hands of any responsibility after it was revealed that powerful sniper rifles it sold to Iran had been acquired by insurgents in Iraq.
The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that American troops had recovered more than 100 Steyr HS50 Mannlicher rifles, part of a consignment of 800 sold to Iran by Austria last year, during a series of raids in Iraq.
Astrid Harz, a spokesman for the Austrian foreign ministry, said yesterday that the sale had... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Telegraph (UK)
22807
Austria,Iran,Iraq
US Claims Austrian Armour-piercing Sniper Rifles Sold to Iran, Found in Iraq
14 February 2007
Spiegel (Germany)
VIENNA — More than 800 high-powered weapons were shipped to Iran from Austria in 2004 over US and British objections. Now, the rifles may have turned up in the hands of Iraq insurgents.
It is considered one of the world's most modern and precise weapons — the Steyr HS .50, made by Austrian weapons manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher. The easily disassembled gun goes for about €4,000 in the Internet. And the buyer gets a deadly weapon that can penetrate basic armor at a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Spiegel (Germany)
22766
Iraq,Iran,Austria
As Predicted, Austrian Sniper Rifles Sold to Iran Now With Iraqi Insurgents
13 February 2007
Telegraph (UK)
Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids.
The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.The Steyr HS50 is a long range, high precision rifle.
The sale was... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Telegraph (UK)
22763
Iraq
Iraqi Police Sell Their New Guns on Black Market, Prices Soar in Baghdad
5 February 2007
Washington Post / Reuters
BAGHDAD — Like many of his colleagues, Abu Zaid was issued an Austrian-made Glock pistol when he joined the new U.S.-trained and equipped Iraqi police force.
But after narrowly escaping death twice, including being shot at near a polling station in Baghdad during national elections in December 2005, he decided to quit, he said.
"I sold my Glock pistol and my bullet-proof vest for $1,500 so that I can feed my family until I find a safer job. They were mine to sell,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / Reuters
22640
Iraq
Baghdad's Gun Runners, Weapon Traders Are Making a Killing
18 December 2006
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Agence France Presse, Transcript
BAGHDAD — Sporting a beige jacket, starched pink shirt and polished shoes, Haider looks like any other young businessman about town, not a sly gunrunner who wheels and deals in Iraq's burgeoning arms trade.
Yet with the country sucked into sectarian warfare and the classic laws of the marketplace clicking into gear, traders like Haider — not his real name — are making a highly-illegal killing.
He admits prices have "quadrupled since spring" after the fuse on... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Agence France Presse
22435
United Kingdom,Iraq,Germany
Four British Soldiers Admit Charges in Iraq-Germany Gun Smuggling Plot
11 December 2006
Guardian (UK)
Four British soldiers pleaded guilty at a court martial today to charges linked to an alleged plot to smuggle guns out of Iraq and trade them for drugs and cash.
Lance Corporal Ross Phillips and Private Shane Pleasant admitted possession of a prohibited pistol at a hearing at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. Lance Corporal Ben Whitfield and Private Robert Marlow both admitted an offence of trying to pervert the course of justice.
The four soldiers, all from the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
22291
Iraq,United States
Black-Market Gun Prices Surge as Weapons Leak Into Iraq Chaos
10 December 2006
New York Times
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq — The Kurdish security contractor placed the black plastic box on the table. Inside was a new Glock 19, one of the 9-millimeter pistols that the United States issued by the tens of thousands to the Iraqi Army and police.
This pistol was no longer in the custody of the Iraqi Army or police. It had been stolen or sold, and it found its way to an open-air grocery stand that does a lively black-market business in police and infantry arms. The contractor... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
22280
United Nations,Iraq
Global Gun Trade: Reducing Demand for Firearms is 'Smart for Business'
3 December 2006
Baltimore Sun, Opinion
Last week marked an unfortunate anniversary: The U.S. presence in Iraq is now longer than U.S. involvement in World War II. A major reason for the length of our stay in Iraq has been the widespread use of large numbers of small arms and light weapons as the primary tool of war. These weapons are devastating in terms of lives lost, but in Iraq, and many other conflict areas, small arms proliferation also has substantially hindered economic recovery.
Small arms and light... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Baltimore Sun
22234
Iraq,United States
US Funnels 500,000 Unregistered Guns, Small Arms Into Iraq's Black Market
31 October 2006
New York Times, Editorial
About the last thing the United States ought to be doing in Iraq is funneling weapons into black-market weapons bazaars, as sectarian militias arm themselves for civil war. Yet that is just what Washington may have been doing for the past several years, thanks to an inexplicable decision that standard Pentagon regulations for registering weapons transfers did not apply to the Iraq war.
Of more than 500,000 weapons turned over to the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
22062
Iraq,United States
370,000 Unregistered Small Arms in Iraq: CNN Stuart Bowen Interview
30 October 2006
CNN 'American Morning'
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: There are three new disturbing reports out of Iraq today. Thousands of weapons intended for the Iraqi troops are missing, there's confusion about the training of security forces, and there are failures in the rebuilding of Iraq. All these reports come from the office of Stuart Bowen. He is the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
Mr. Bowen's with us this morning from Washington, D.C.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CNN 'American Morning'
22084
Iraq,United States
US Made No Effort to Register, Track Thousands of Guns Lost in Iraq
30 October 2006
New York Times
The American military has not properly tracked hundreds of thousands of weapons intended for Iraqi security forces and has failed to provide spare parts, maintenance personnel or even repair manuals for most of the weapons given to the Iraqis, a federal report released Sunday has concluded.
The report was undertaken at the request of Senator John W. Warner, the Virginia Republican who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and who recently expressed an... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
22048
Iraq,United States
Washington Audit Finds US Has Misplaced 14,030 Guns, Small Arms in Iraq
29 October 2006
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Nearly one of every 25 weapons the military bought for Iraqi security forces is missing, a government audit said Sunday. Many others cannot be repaired because parts or technical manuals are lacking.
A second report found "significant challenges remain that put at risk" the U.S. military's goal of strengthening Iraqi security forces by transferring all logistics operations to the defense ministry by the end of 2007.
The Pentagon cannot account for... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
22036
Iraq
Iraqis Refuse to Disarm, Gun Runners Thrive as More Weapons Arrive
26 October 2006
IRIN (UN News)
BAGHDAD — Abu Zaineb, 56, is one of the most well known small arms dealers in Baghdad. He sells guns under the table in his upmarket shop in Mansour, one of the capital's most prestigious districts.
"People need to protect themselves from the ongoing violence in Iraq and my job is to support them doing that. With the official prohibition on selling weapons, we are being forced to work through the black market. I am just trying to help people stay safe and not become... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: IRIN (UN News)
22061
Iraq
Gunshots Killed Most of the Estimated 654,965 Wartime Casualties in Iraq
12 October 2006
Lancet (London), Excerpt
Excerpts from Summary:
Of post-invasion deaths [in Iraq], 601,027 (426,369 — 793,663) were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire …
Gunfire remains the most common cause of death, although deaths from car bombing have increased …
Most violent deaths were due to gunshots (56%); air strikes, car bombs, and other explosions/ordnance each accounted for 13-14% of violent deaths. The number of deaths from gunshots increased consistently over the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Lancet (London)
21853
United Kingdom,Iraq
British Army Examines Soldiers' Illegal Trade in Guns from Iraq
25 September 2006
Guardian (UK)
Army prosecutors are investigating the "unlawful possession" of guns by British soldiers who allegedly smuggled the weapons out of Iraq and sold them on the black market for drugs and money.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday that the Army Prosecuting Authority is conducting an inquiry, following a report that soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment had sold the guns. It is understood that they are not British army weapons.
"The Royal Military... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
21779
United States,Iraq
US Soldier Accused of Smuggling Machine Guns Home from Iraq
21 September 2006
International Herald Tribune / AP
ATLANTA — A former National Guard soldier is accused of bringing machine guns from Iraq to the United States and trying to sell them to a northwest Georgia gun dealer.
Robert James Clymore of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was arraigned in federal court Thursday on charges of unlawful importation, possession, transportation and transfer of machine guns. U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Clymore obtained the guns while on active duty with his Army National Guard unit in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: International Herald Tribune / AP
21625
Iraq,United States
US Forces Search Baghdad Homes, Register, Confiscate Iraqi Civilian Guns
15 August 2006
Peninsula (Qatar) / AFP
BAGHDAD — "Do you have a gun? Do you mind if we check around?" says the polite but firm US soldier as he conducts house-to-house searches for illegal weapons in Baghdad's western Ghazalia neighbourhood.
Iraqi and US forces have launched what amounts to an operation to recover Baghdad from the grip of sectarian death squads and insurgent groups, whose reign of terror has left thousands dead in the past few months.
The house-to-house sweep is not designed to disarm... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Peninsula (Qatar) / AFP
21318
Iraq
Guns Galore as Civilians Tool Up, and Anarchy Stalks Baghdad
13 July 2006
Reuters
BAGHDAD — Seif has never fired a gun. He wouldn't know how one worked, he says. But that did not stop him buying both a pistol and an AK-47 assault rifle last month.
In Baghdad, it can seem everyone these days is armed, a mark of violence that is ever more anarchic and prompting efforts by the government, U.S. military, and even militia leaders, to curb rogue gunmen, especially among majority Shi'ites, who threaten what the prime minister has called the "last chance"... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
21076
Bosnia & Herzegovina,Afghanistan,Iraq,United States,United Nations
Bosnia's Leftover Guns: Sell, Give to Iraq or Afghanistan, Destroy?
10 July 2006
Christian Science Monitor
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — What's been called the biggest arms transfer since World War II — the shipping of leftover weapons from Bosnia's 1992-1995 war to combat zones in the Middle East and elsewhere — may not have come to an end, despite a year-old moratorium on Bosnian arms sales.
As a UN conference on small arms wrapped up last week, key policymakers reviewed the UN's 2001 action program to end the illegal arms trade, but were unable to come up with a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Christian Science Monitor
21023
Russia,Iraq,United Nations
Kalashnikov, Izhmash Claim a Billion AK-47s, Variants Worldwide
17 April 2006
Reuters
MOSCOW — Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of the world's most popular assault rifle, says that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are using his invention in preference to their own weapons, proving that his gun is still the best.
"Even after lying in a swamp you can pick up this rifle, aim it and shoot. That's the best job description there is for a gun. Real soldiers know that and understand it," the 86-year-old gunmaker told a weekend news conference in Moscow.
"In Vietnam,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
20119
Iraq
Many Iraqi Soldiers Wounded by Own Guns
3 April 2006
Associated Press
BIDIMNAH, Iraq — The two bloodied, wincing Iraqi soldiers — bandages wrapped around their legs — hobbled onto the waiting ambulance, wounded during a house-to-house search near this farming town.
The culprit was a common one: not insurgents, but gunfire from fellow soldiers. U.S. trainers who mentor Iraqi troops say a lack of gun safety, or what they call "muzzle discipline," has led to many injuries and deaths across the country.
And while the Americans say it... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
20057
Iraq
Sectarian Strife Fuels Gun Sales in Baghdad
3 April 2006
New York Times
BAGHDAD, Iraq — With chipped, painted fingernails, Nahrawan al-Janabi picked up a cartridge and slid it into the chamber.
"Like this," she said, loading her new Glock pistol with a loud, satisfying click. "You see, like this."
Akram Abdulzahra now keeps his revolver handy at his job in an Internet cafe. Haidar Hussein, a Baghdad bookseller, just bought a fully automatic assault rifle and has been teaching his wife how to shoot.
Iraq has long been awash in guns.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
20030
Iraq
Guns in Demand as Iraqi Civilians Seek Protection
5 March 2006
Reuters
BAGHDAD — Like most Iraqis, Abu Ali has long kept a Kalashnikov assault rifle hidden in his bedroom.
But it was not until sectarian violence pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war these past two weeks that the 56-year-old engineer thought that one automatic weapon was not enough.
"Danger is everywhere," said Ali, a short, stocky man. "I always had a Kalashnikov at home but after the violence I bought a 9mm pistol. I carry it with me all the time."
Fearful of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
19776
Iraq
Journalists in Iraq 'Must Resist Call to Carry Arms,' Says Safety Institute
24 February 2006
Guardian (UK)
Journalists in Iraq are being asked not to arm themselves in the wake of the murder of al-Arabiya news journalist Atwar Bahjat and two colleagues
The International News Safety Institute has pleaded with journalists to resist suggestions that they should carry guns in Iraq, following the killing of al-Arabiya's Iraq correspondent Bahjat, cameraman Khalid Mahmoud and technician Adnan Khairullah yesterday.
At a news conference after the killings, a reporter asked Iraqi... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
19721
Iraq
Iraqi Women Take Up Arms as Security Guards
24 October 2005
Washington Times
BAGHDAD — While most Iraqi women live in fear of terrorists and criminals, one small band of women has taken up arms and is prepared to fight back.
Employed by a private security company, the women ride in the front passenger seat posing as ordinary housewives when the company's drivers transport customers around the city in nondescript vehicles.
But their firearms are always close at hand, and they are trained to respond with force if they come under attack.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Times
18544
Iraq
Iraq to Shut Borders, Ban Guns for Referendum
8 October 2005
Reuters
BAGHDAD — Iraq will impose special security measures including travel restrictions and a gun ban for several days on either side of an Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution, the government said on Saturday.
The referendum and an election for a new parliament in December have fired tensions between the Shi'ite majority and the Sunni Arab minority which dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein but now fears political eclipse.
Iraq is struggling through a stepped-up... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
18396
Kuwait,Iraq
Alleged Australian Gunrunner, Terrorist Comes to Trial in Kuwait
20 September 2005
Australian (Sydney)
An Australian man charged with being a member of a terrorist group is due to reappear in a Kuwait court this weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says.
Sydney businessman Tallaal Adrey, 30, is accused of running guns across the border from Iraq and being involved in a terror group known as the Peninsula Lions, whose members were involved in a deadly gun battle with Kuwaiti police in January.
A DFAT spokeswoman told AAP today Adrey and 33 other... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Australian (Sydney)
18212
United Nations,Iraq
Small Arms Cause 60-90 per cent of Conflict Deaths: Study
12 July 2005
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — Global estimates have routinely underestimated the true number of people killed in armed conflict, including during the war in Iraq, according to a report released Monday.
The annual Small Arms Survey coincided with the start of a weeklong conference at the United Nations to discuss efforts to stop the illegal spread of small arms and light weapons.
The survey said that it was possible that as many as 39,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
17696
Iraq,United Nations
Conflict Gun Deaths Vastly Under-Reported in Past: Study
11 July 2005
Reuters
UNITED NATIONS — Nearly 40,000 Iraqis have been killed as a direct result of combat or armed violence since the US-led invasion, a figure considerably higher than previous estimates, a Swiss institute reported today.
The public database Iraqi Body Count, by comparison, estimates that between 22,787 and 25,814 Iraqi civilians have died since the March 2003 invasion, based on reports from at least two media sources.
No official estimates of Iraqi casualties from the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
17690
Iraq
Iraqi Doctors Armed as Attacks Mount
17 May 2005
Telegraph (UK)
BAGHDAD — Doctors in Iraq are to be equipped with not only stethoscopes and thermometers but also an automatic rifle under a government directive aimed at halting violent attacks from criminals masquerading as patients.
Instructions from the health ministry encourage GPs and hospital doctors to carry a weapon for their protection alongside more traditional medical tools in what is the latest illustration of the breakdown of law and order in the country. The ministry... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Telegraph (UK)
17252
United States,Iraq
Iraq/US Smuggling Suspect Called Obsessed With Guns
15 May 2005
Associated Press
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Florida — An Air Force officer accused of illegally sending home dozens of foreign-made assault rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and other war trophies from Iraq was obsessed with firearms, a prosecutor said at his court-martial Thursday.
Maj. Gregory McMillion, a maintenance officer, is accused of shipping the items back to this Florida Panhandle base in wooden crates also containing some of his ground radar unit's equipment.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
17217
Iraq
Pre-Election Gun Boom in Baghdad
28 January 2005
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Zaid Fawzy has come to a crowded Baghdad market with one purpose in mind — to get hold of a pistol before the January 30 election.
"I want to buy a gun quickly to protect myself and my family before the election comes," said Fawzy, who works for Iraq's oil ministry.
Fears of violence during and after the election have caused a boom in gun sales on the black market in Baghdad. Recent demand has added 150 US dollars to the price of pistols and raised the price of a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Institute for War & Peace Reporting
16433
Belgium,Iraq,Europe
NATO Organizing Shipment of Soviet-Era Arms to Iraqi Military
12 January 2005
Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium — NATO is organizing the shipment to Iraq of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles, dozens of Soviet-designed tanks and other weapons as part of the alliance's program to help train and equip the Iraqi military, officials said Wednesday.
Romania has offered 6,000 AK-47's along with 500 machine guns, 300 sniper rifles and 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, while Estonia has offered 2,400 AK-47s and Denmark 104 pistols, alliance officials said.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
16329
Iraq
Sheer Quantity of Small Arms in Fallujah Delays Civilians' Return
24 November 2004
Associated Press
FALLUJAH, Iraq — U.S. Marine officers said Wednesday that U.S. and Iraqi troops sweeping Fallujah have uncovered enough weapons to fuel a nationwide rebellion and that clearing the former insurgent bastion of arms is holding up the return of civilians.
Most of Fallujah's estimated 250,000 civilians left the central Iraq city ahead of the devastating Nov. 8 assault and "it will be probably several more weeks" before significant numbers of them can return, said Lt.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
16116
Iraq,United States
Weapons for the Taking in Iraq
29 October 2004
Los Angeles Times, Opinion
It now seems highly likely that a group of well-organized looters made off with the missing cache of 380 tons of powerful explosives at Iraq's Al Qaqaa military site after it was visited by invading U.S. troops in early April 2003.
For myself and other reporters who were on the ground in Baghdad during those days, this oversight does not seem surprising. Coinciding with the arrival of the Americans, Baghdad succumbed to an orgy of looting and, eventually, to wholesale... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
15991
Iraq,United States
Tip of the Iceberg: Explosives, Small Arms in Iraq
27 October 2004
Salon (USA)
As I learned while embedded in Iraq, the highly lethal explosives stolen from Al Qaqaa are just a fraction of the mountain of poorly secured munitions that could be turned against U.S. soldiers and citizens.
Monday's New York Times contained a front-page story describing the disappearance of nearly 380 tons of high-powered explosives from a sensitive weapons cache outside Baghdad known as Al Qaqaa. "60 Minutes" plans to air a story on the subject Sunday evening, one... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Salon (USA)
15980
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