Toolbox 9 - Preventing Illegal Trafficking of Firearms – policies & practices

We believe that illicit trafficking of firearms has not deserved the attention that it should. Even though it is obvious that the illicit trafficking of firearms is a threat to the security of Europe, not much has yet been done to prevent it. By writing this toolbox we would like to mitigate this by recommending certain actions to get started with the prevention. Overall, the research confirms that Europe faces a serious illicit firearms trafficking problem. This is a problem in its own right but also as an important factor contributing to other criminal activities, such as human trafficking, drugs smuggling and terrorist-related activities all of which threaten the security of EU Member States and their citizens. Additionally, trafficking in firearms make firearms more available, which then, contributes to the increased lethality of criminal violence.