UN Teaching Module #4, Illicit Market in Firearms--

https://www.unodc.org/documents/e4j/Module_04_-_The_Illicit_Market_in_Firearms_FINAL.pdf Firearms serve multiple purposes. They are not only a profitable trafficking commodity but, first and foremost, a tool to consolidate power and to commit violent crimes. As Salcedo-Albaran and Santos (2017: 10) point out, “Like drug trafficking is a catalyst criminal activity worldwide due to the high level of profits it produces, firearms’ trafficking is a pivotal criminal activity worldwide due to the high demand in several criminal hotspots.” The illicit manufacturing, acquisition and trafficking of firearms also functions as a market commonly known as the ‘illicit global market’. Griffiths and Wilkinson (2007: 25) suggest that “(t)he illicit global arms market today works like any other largely free and unregulated system, driven by the dynamics of supply and demand. These are still dominated by relatively low loss-adjustment calculations set against the possibility of detection, interdiction, asset confiscation, accidents or non-payment risk. Clandestine arms supply is an evolving business and those involved in it have introduced innovative solutions to guard against financial loss.” While the illicit market is similar to the legal market in many respects, it operates according to other types of principles, the first and most obvious being that the nature of the illegality shapes the behaviour of the actors in the market.