Civilian firearms circulation in borderland and peripheral areas is difficult to monitor and quantify. Existing approaches often struggle to capture how firearms move through informal systems over time, particularly in environments shaped by cross-border flows, mobility, and localized security dynamics.

'Kenya’s northern borderlands are often seen through a prism of insecurity — cattle raids, intercommunal clashes, political unrest, and threats from external actors. Yet mobility, livelihoods, and kinship networks are the bedrock systems through which both communities and state security actors operate, shaping how civilian firearms are acquired, circulated, and ultimately used.