Converted Firearms A Transnational Problem with L

Authors: Marsha Simone de Vries

Publish Date: 2011/09/27

Volume: 18, Issue: 2, Pages: 205-216

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Abstract

Over the last decade the Dutch police as well as police forces in several other WesternEuropean countries were confronted with an increase in the availability and use of converted firearms Converted firearms were originally blank firing weapons for example gas and alarm pistols which are converted to fire live ammunition These firearms were used for threats attempted killings robberies and drug related crimes Although the trade in converted firearms seems to have a smallscale character when judged from a global perspective the use of these weapons imposes a serious threat to society as converted firearms are cheap and easy to obtain by criminals with an evidently high inclination to shoot in particular young men from ethnic minority groups In this article the trade in converted firearms is described using a script perspective Several underlying mechanisms are distinguished that facilitate the availability of converted firearms on the Dutch criminal market especially the existence of transnational social networks and the limited context of control Finally several strategies are described that focus on the demandside as well as on the supplyside of the criminal market for converted firearms such as joint police investigations local administrative measures preemptive searches and tackling the use of converted firearms by exploiting the anxieties of criminals about the safety of such weapons

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