While the weapons of state armed forces are not the largest major category of small arms—worldwide there are around three civilian-owned firearms for each one held by militaries—they are a serious factor in conflict and violence, and the focus of much international diplomacy. Military-owned small arms also constitute the world’s largest centrally controlled stockpiles. They can be involved in massive transfers, and raise vital control issues.

Although many armed groups possess guided weapons, such as man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) and anti-tank guided weapons (ATGWs), few of them possess sophisticated vehicle-mounted systems—like the SA-11—capable of targeting airliners at cruising altitudes.

Since 1998 at least 59 non-state armed groups from 37 countries are known to have possessed guided light weapons systems, posing a significant international security threat (2013).

The small arms and light weapons held by non-state armed groups—such as opposition and insurgent movements, pro-government militias, and community-based vigilante groups—pose multiple threats.

When Nepal’s civil war ended in 2006, the country had changed fundamentally. Legacies of the war included the end of the monarchy and the accommodation of Maoist rebels (Unified Communist Party of Nepal–Maoist, UCPN-M), who were integrated into the government. A total of 1,462 Maoists (including 71 officers) were selected for integration into the Nepal Army (Pun, 2012). Like many post-conflict societies, Nepal is struggling to re-establish political stability and cope with post-conflict violence.

Small arms held by law enforcement agencies, while highly visible to the public, are relatively few in number in global terms.

Estimating Law Enforcement Firearms, a Research Note from the Small Arms Survey, shows the latest law enforcement firearms estimations for selected countries.  It also discusses the principles and methodology for making these estimations, and reflects on differences in practices and culture relating to firearms.

Every year, several hundred individuals die or are injured as a result of unplanned explosions involving poorly maintained and badly managed ammunition stockpiles. While it is difficult to provide an accurate measure of the direct and indirect impacts of these explosive events on lives, livelihoods, housing, the environment, and development, the costs and consequences—in terms of health care, direct and indirect income loss, material damage, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), and environmental damage—are certainly severe.

Aging, excess, and unstable stockpiles of conventional weapons and munitions pose dual threats of illicit proliferation and accidental explosion, which could cause humanitarian disasters and destabilize individual countries or regions as a whole.

Buy and Burn: Factoring Demilitarization into Ammunition Procurement, compiled by the Small Arms Survey in support of the RASR Initiative, aims to increase participating states’ awareness of the future costs they will incur in disposing of the weapons and ammunition that they acquire today.

Many states view surplus weapons and ammunition as ‘money in the bank,’ securing them for future need or future resale.

Most of the world’s firearms are privately owned. In 2007 the Small Arms Survey estimated that civilians owned some 650 million of the world’s firearms, with armed forces owning around 200 million, and 26 million in the hands of law enforcement.

With the world’s factories delivering millions of newly manufactured firearms annually—far outnumbering those being destroyed—civilian ownership is growing in most countries. The highest national rate of civilian firearm ownership is in the United States, with at least 90 firearms per every 100 people.