Global Small Arms Inventories

After more than a decade of continuous research, the geography of global gun ownership is gradually coming into focus. Directed research shows that there are at least 640 million firearms in the world. Of these, 200 million or more belong to state militaries and 26 million or more to law enforcement agencies. The majority of global firearms, however, roughly two-thirds of the estimated total, are in the hands of civil society. Estimates of most other types of small arms and light weapons remain elusive. More important than how many weapons there are in a particular country, however, are the dynamic factors surrounding their use and effects, which vary dramatically from place to place. All of these topics are at the center of stockpile and inventory analysis.

State Stockpiles

Government-owned small arms inventories are a major small arms category. They also are the largest category stored in coherent stockpiles. While the weapons of civil society are distributed among millions of owners, official weapons, especially military weapons, often are stockpiled. This puts them at great risk, vulnerable to theft and diversion. Loss of individual small arms, through theft (by outsiders) or pilferage (by members of the armed forces or law enforcement agencies), is a universal problem. Massive hemorrhaging in catastrophic incidents is rare but always possible.

Civilian Inventories

Most of the world's small arms are firearms in civilian hands. They range from collectable antiques to state-of-the-art automatics. Ownership laws and practices vary dramatically from country to country and region to region. Because national registration and reporting remain spotty and polling rare, civil society possession usually has to be estimated. The Americas and the Middle East are examples in point.

Stockpile and Inventory Dynamics

The growth of government stockpiles and private small arms inventories is the result of continuous procurement. While these processes usually are regulated through official regulations and formal commerce, they also can take pathological form. Although most instances of gun theft appear to be relatively small, their cumulative effect can be very large. Besides theft and pilferage from government stockpiles, the catastrophic loss of entire government arsenals is the most extreme manifestation. Disarmament processes are important but remain much smaller than procurement.

Resources on Global Inventories

The most important sources of information on small arms inventories are government reports, public polling and surveys, and expert research. There have been relatively few government reports on public or private small arms inventories. Polling and surveys on ownership also have been relatively rare. In their stead, expert research is the most important source of information on inventories. The best research, such as the monographs listed below, include officially released data on government stockpiles and public registration.