During the 1980s, El Salvador was the single largest recipient of U.S. military hardware and weaponry in the Western Hemisphere. Although the Central American country's civil war ended in 1992, the guns, grenades and bullets linger, as do their murderous effects. In September, a U.S. official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimated that half the weapons available on El Salvador's vibrant black market were made in the United... (GunPolicy.org)

Small arms and gun violence present the most dramatic threat to public safety in Latin America and the Caribbean. After decades of uncontrolled proliferation, at least 45 million to 80 million small arms and light weapons—that is, weapons operated by an individual or small group, including handguns, assault rifles, grenades, grenade launchers, and even man portable surface to air missiles—are circulating throughout the region.(1) Gunshots kill between 73,000 and... (GunPolicy.org)

It is estimated at least half a million people are killed with guns every year and on average a further 200,000 men, women and children die as an indirect result of armed conflicts and violence that are frequently fuelled by the uncontrolled flow of small arms. And for every person that is killed in an armed conflict, many more are injured and tortured, raped, abused, forcibly disappeared, taken hostage or displaced. Even more have their access to food, water, shelter,... (GunPolicy.org)

The world is awash in conventional weapons, like tanks, firearms and aircraft, with the market valued at $40 billion to $60 billion a year. Far too many of these arms are fueling conflicts and atrocities in Syria, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond. They have been used to kill countless innocent civilians, and they will be used against countless more if the international community does not find a way to keep them out of the hands of unscrupulous regimes,... (GunPolicy.org)

LONDON - States must set legally binding global rules on weapon and ammunition sales, aid agency Oxfam said on Tuesday, ahead of a United Nations summit to agree an arms treaty to prevent arms reaching human rights violators. Citing the example of Syria, which has continued to receive arms shipments even as it is accused of killing more than 9,000 civilians in a crackdown on a popular uprising, Oxfam said it is vital that regulations on weapons sales are... (GunPolicy.org)

The United Nations is urging all nations in the Asia region to implement concrete solutions to stop illegal trading in small arms and light weapons. "Over the past decades, trade has made this region grow so phenomenally. If you are a region where international trade is what makes you tick, you better also make sure that you are seen as doing trade in the right way," UN disarmament affairs official Daniel Prins told reporters on the sidelines of opening the Asian... (GunPolicy.org)

Cuban President Raul Castro has offered to assist Caricom to combat the illicit trade in small arms and narcotics. This was identified by St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas as one of several points of agreement contained in the Declaration of Port-of-Spain which was released following the conclusion of the Fourth Caricom-Cuba Summit at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port-of-Spain on Thursday night. Addressing a news conference... (GunPolicy.org)

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica's top security official announced Tuesday that he will lead a delegation to Cuba this week to sign agreements strengthening cooperation against drug trafficking and other crimes. Security Minister Dwight Nelson said the pacts are intended to increase intelligence sharing about the "movement of guns and drugs and the groups involved in their movement between the two countries." Jamaica is the Caribbean's largest source of marijuana for the... (GunPolicy.org)

HAVANA, Cuba - Cuba has declared a two-month amnesty for citizens to register unlicensed guns, and says those passing aptitude and psychological tests will be allowed to keep their weapons. The move is unusual in a state where almost no one except some active military personnel and plain-clothed state security agents are allowed to possess weapons. Even most police officers are required to leave their pistols at the station or in a regional barracks when on vacation... (GunPolicy.org)

The alleged masterminds behind the multi-million dollar guns for drugs trade between Jamaica and Haiti were offered bail when they appeared in the Half-Way-Tree Criminal Court on Tuesday. St. Elizabeth businessman Lumsden Legister otherwise called "Lazarus" and Luddy Banton were each offered $10 million bail. Five other men accused with the two chief suspects, Felix Dennis; Horace McKenzie; Richard Graham; Kenrick Bennett and Andrew Reid were each offered bail in the... (GunPolicy.org)

Ukraine's arms exports last year stood at US$530-550m, an increase on the year before when they were officially recorded at $440m. JID's regional analyst looks at the implications of Kiev's weapons policy. Ukrainian experts analysing this highly secretive sector of Ukraine's foreign trade believe that the volume of military exports could rise to an annual maximum of $700m. Of course, these figures do not include the large volume of unofficial trade in weapons. Since... (GunPolicy.org)

HAVANA, Cuba — A band of people arrested in the murder of five people late last year on a central Cuban highway went on trial Monday in Havana, police sources confirmed. The provincial court hearing was closed to news media. Most details were unknown, including the number of defendants on trial, their names and the charges against them. Police officers stationed outside the court Monday confirmed only that the defendants were being tried in the December mass slaying... (GunPolicy.org)