Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Hidden Time Bomb? Policing Illegal Firearms in Europe

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Gun Trafficking and Violence

Part of the book series: St Antony's Series ((STANTS))

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the security challenges associated with firearm possession (legal and illegal), weapon trafficking, and firearm misuse in Europe and then to explore how these challenges might be most effectively addressed. A concern also includes the trafficking of firearms for illegal purposes into the UK. To do this, two separate, but related, aspects of the issue will be considered. In the first place our question concerns the scale and nature of firearm ownership or possession across the range of European societies; the balance between legal and illegal (licensed or unlicensed) firearms comprising the various societies’ firearm inventories; the chief uses to which these firearms are put, and the risks and social harms to which these rates of possession routinely give rise, including background levels of homicide, suicide, and firearm-related violence. In the second place we will address a number of the more contingent, institutional features of firearm production, exchange, and distribution. This contains particular configurations of political, cultural, and geographic incidents and relationships including wars and patterns of conflict, especially crimogenic ‘gun cultures’ and structural (or institutional) features of gun control regimes, giving rise to large scale of organized criminal or terrorist opportunities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Hurka’s (2017) policy analysis research shows that a number of factors influence the likelihood that mass shootings will result in tighter licensing laws. These include strong and active grass roots campaigns, the extent to which proposals are adopted by leading political actors and parties, the strength and coherence of the gun lobby itself, and the way the incident connects into the cycle of electoral politics.

  2. 2.

    This ban was introduced following the school shooting at Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996, when 16 five-year old children and their teacher were killed

  3. 3.

    One important aspect of the Good Friday Agreement had involved the ‘de-commissioning’ of all weapons held by paramilitary organizations. The leaders of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning confirmed, in September 2005, that all firearms held by the IRA had been ‘put beyond use’ but critics have challenged the credibility of these claims (The Guardian 2005; McAleese 2016).

  4. 4.

    The Schengen Information System (SIS) essentially comprises an inter-governmental data-sharing protocol between the 31 full and partial members of the agreement regarding crime and security issues maintained by the European Commission. Data on suspected, wanted, or missing persons is shared, along with extradition requests. Information relating to lost, stolen, or misappropriated firearms is also shared.

  5. 5.

    These weapons were not deactivated to UK standards, but were referred to as ‘accoustic expansion weapons’ (AEWs or blank firers). The issue points to the varying European standards hitherto adopted for firearm deactivation, an issue that has been addressed in the 2017 European Firearms Directive.

  6. 6.

    Although the generic standard proposed was less rigorous than deactivation requirements already in place in the UK. Directive (EU) 2017/853 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

References

  • Arsovska, J., and Y.G. Zabyelina. 2014. Irrationality, Liminality and the Demand for Illicit Firearms in the Balkans and North Caucasus. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 20 (3): 399–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bangalore, S., and F.H. Messerli. 2013. Gun Ownership and Firearm-Related Deaths. American Journal of Medicine 126 (10): 873–876.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjorgo, T., and M. Mares (eds.). 2019. Vigilantism Against Migrants and Minorities. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen, E., and H. Poole. 2016. The EFFECT Project: Examination of Firearms and Forensics in Europe and Across Territories. EU/Coventry University/Universita Della Calabria/Arquebus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brodeur, J.-P. 2007 High and Low Policing in Post 9/11 Times. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 1 (1): 25–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buscemi, F., N. Duquet, E. Golovko, and E. Woods. 2018. Illicit Firearms Proliferation in the EU Periphery: The Case of Ukraine. In Triggering Terror: Illicit Gun Markets and Firearms Acquisition of Terrorist Networks in Europe, ed. N. Duquet. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carapic, J. 2014. Handgun Ownership and Armed Violence in the Western Balkans, September, Small Arms Survey, Armed Violence Issue Brief No. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services (CSES). 2014. Study to Support an Impact Assessment on Options for Combating Illicit Firearms Trafficking in the European Union. Brussels: European Commission Directorate General Home Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christys, P. 2017. Czech Minister Controversially Says: Buy Guns to Protect from Terrorist ‘Super Holocaust’. Daily Express, January 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daly, A., M. Mann, P. Squires, and R. Walters. 2020. 3D Printing, Policing and Crime, Policing and Society Online, March 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vries, Marsha Simone. 2012. Converted Firearms: A Transnational Problem with Local Harm. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 18 (2, June): 205–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dragović, F., P. James, K. Mamić, and R. Mikac. 2018. Availability of Illegal Weapons: Connecting the Dots. A Case Study of the Republic of Croatia. In Triggering Terror: Illicit Gun Markets and Firearms Acquisition of Terrorist Networks in Europe, ed. N. Duquet. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duquet, N. 2016. Armed to Kill: An Exploratory Analysis of the Guns Used in Mass Shootings in Europe. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duquet, N. (ed.). 2018. Triggering Terror: Illicit Gun Markets and Firearms Acquisition of Terrorist Networks in Europe. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duquet, N., and M. Van Alstein. 2015. Firearms and Violent Deaths in Europe: An Exploratory Analysis of the Linkages Between Gun Ownership, Firearms Legislation and Violent Death. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2013. Firearms and the Internal Security of the EU: Protecting Citizens and Disrupting Illegal Trafficking. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament; COM(2013) 716 final. Brussels: Europa.eu. 21 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2015. Implementing the European Agenda on Security: EU Action Plan Against Illicit Trafficking in and Use of Firearms and Explosives. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council Brussels, 2.12.2015 COM (2015) 624 final.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florquin, N., and S.O. Stoneman. 2004. A House Isn’t a Home Without a Gun: SALW Survey, Republic of Montenegro. Geneva/Belgrade, SAS/SEESAC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florquin, N., and B. King. 2018. From Legal to Lethal: Converted Firearms in Europe. Geneva: Small Arms Survey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florquin, N., and A. Desmarais. 2018. Lethal Legacies: Illicit Firearms and Terrorism in France. In Triggering Terror: Illicit Gun Markets and Firearms Acquisition of Terrorist Networks in Europe, ed. N. Duquet. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guardian, The. 2005. IRA Arms Decommissioned. The Guardian/Staff & Agencies. September 26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guardian, The. 2018. Italian Extremist Given 12 – Year Sentence for Gun Attack on Migrants. The Guardian/Staff & Agencies in Milan, October 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagliardi, P. 2012. Transnational Organized Crime and Gun Violence. A Case for Firearm Forensic Intelligence Sharing, International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 26 (1): 83–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerard, J., R. Crookes, S. Elliott, M. Hellenbach, A. Stamos, H. Poole, and E. Bowen. 2017. The Sharing of Ballistics Data Across Europe and Neighbouring Territories. Science & Justice 57 (5): 384–393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gobinet, P. 2011. Significant Surpluses: Weapons and Ammunition Stockpiles in South East Europe. Small Arms Survey Special Report, Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, O., and N. Marsh. 2012. Armed Violence Within Societies. In Small Arms, Crime and Conflict: Global Governance and the Threat of Armed Violence, ed. O. Greene and N. Marsh, 79–104. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grillot, S.R., W.-C. Paes, H. Risser, and S.O. Stoneman. 2006. A Fragile Peace: Guns and Security in Post-Conflict Macedonia, Bonn, UN development Programme/Small Arms Survey.

    Google Scholar 

  • HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary). 2015. Targeting the Risk: An Inspection of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Firearms Licensing in Police Forces in England and Wales. HMIC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hales, G. C. Lewis, and D. Silverstone. 2006. Gun Crime: The Market in and Use of Illegal Firearms. Home Office Research Study 298. London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannam, A.G. 2010. Trends in Converted Firearms in England & Wales as Identified by the National Firearms Forensic Intelligence Database (NFFID) Between September 2003 and September 2008. Journal of Forensic Sciences 55 (3): 756–766.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassett-Walker, C. 2019. Guns on the Internet: Online Gun Communities, First Amendment Protections and the Search for Common Ground on Gun Control. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Head, I. 2016. Presentation to Vienna Working Group on Firearms, NABIS, May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellenbach, M., S. Elliott, F.J. Gerard, B. Crookes, T. Stamos, H. Poole, and E. Bowen. 2018. The Detection and Policing of Gun Crime: Challenges to the Effective Policing of Gun Crime in Europe, European Journal of Criminology 15 (2): 172–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holtom, Paul, Paul James, and Connor Patmore. 2018. From the IRA to ISIS: Exploring Terrorist Access to the UK’s Illicit Firearms Market. In Triggering Terror, ed. Nils Duquet, 369–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huggler, J. 2018. Far Right German arrested in Hungary for ‘Selling Guns to Use Against Migrants’. The Daily Telegraph, March 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurka, S. 2017. Rampage Shootings and Gun Control: Politicization and Policy Change in Western Europe. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenzen-Jones, N.R. 2015. Small Arms and Additive Manufacturing: An Assessment of 3D-Printed Firearms, Components, and Accessories. In Behind the Curve: New Technologies, New Control Challenges, ed. B. King and G. McDonald. Geneva: Small Arms Survey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lankford, A. 2015. Are America’s Public Mass Shooters Unique? A Comparative Analysis of Offenders in the United States and Other Countries. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 40 (2): 171–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindstrom, G. 2014. Why Should We Care about 3D-printing and What are the Potential Security Implications? Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Paper 2014/6 – September 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lott-Lavigne, R., and T. Dhondy. 2019. Guns and Ammo Are Being Advertised on Snapchat in the UK. Vice Magazine, December.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lysova A., and N. Shchitov. 2015. What Is Russia’s Real Homicide Rate? Statistical Reconstruction and the ‘Decivilising Process’. Theoretical Criminology 19 (2): 257–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, R. 2014. Nigel Farage Calls for UK Gun Laws to be Relaxed. The Guardian, January 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAleese, B. 2016. Police Confirm 12 IRA Assault Rifles Recovered Since Decommissioning, Belfast Telegraph, September 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J., and C. Copley. 2016. Europeans Turn to Weapons in Growing Numbers After Attacks. Reuters Wold News, August 23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, S. 2017. Gun Owners Could Help Fight Terror Attack, Says Police Commissioner, The Guardian, June 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • NCA. 2019. National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime: 2019. Crown Copyright.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ott, H., and S. Doane. 2019. Italian Gun Laws Change as Leaders Push “Legitimate Defence”. CBS News, March 16. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/italian-gun-laws-change-as-leaders-push-legitimate-defense/.

  • Paes, W.-C., H. Risser, and T. Pietz. 2004. Small Arms and Light Weapons Survey (SAS) Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bonn: UNDP and BICC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paoli, G.P., J. Aldridge, N. Ryan, and R. Warnes. 2017. Behind the Curtain: The Illicit Trade in Firearms, Explosives and Ammunition on the Dark Web. Santa Monica and Cambridge: Rand Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, T. 2014. Russia Legalises Guns for Self Defence with Murder Rates Among Highest in World. International Business Times, November 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reuters: World News. 2017. Czechs Take Legal Action Over EU Rules on Gun Control, August 9. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-guncontrol-czech-idUSKBN1AP1SA.

  • Rogers, J. 2017 EU UP IN ARMS: Citizens Across Europe Applying for Gun Licences After Terror Attacks, Daily Express, January 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Satia, P. 2018. Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution. Richmond: Duckworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savona, E.U., and M. Mancuso (eds.). 2017. Fighting Lllicit Firearms Trafficking Routes and Actors at European Level. Final Report of Project FIRE (www.fireproject.eu). Milano: Transcrime – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

  • Schwander-Sivers, S., and S. Cattaneo. 2005. ‘Gun Culture’ in Kosovo: Questioning the Origins of Conflict. In Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheptycki, J. 2007. High Policing in the Security Control Society, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 1 (1): 70–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Small Arms Survey. 2018. More Than a Billion Firearms in the World. http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/about-us/highlights/2018/highlight-bp-firearms-holdings.html.

  • Spapens, T. 2007. Trafficking in Illicit Firearms for Criminal Purposes within the European Union. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 359–381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokolová, J., A. Richards, and H. Smith. 2006. SALW Survey of Kosovo. Belgrade: SEESAC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires, P., A. Silvestri, E. Solomon, and R. Grimshaw. 2008. Street Weapons Commission: Guns, Knives and Street Violence—Final Report. London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Kings College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires, P. 2000. Gun Culture or Gun Control? Firearms, Violence and Society. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires, P. 2014. Gun Crime in Global Contexts. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires, P. 2015. Paris Attacks: Terrorism and Trafficking—And the Enduring Curse of the AK-47. The Conversation, November 16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires, P. 2018. Mr Gingrich’s Bequest: Globalising the Second Amendment, In The Second Amendment and Gun Control: Freedom, Fear, and the American Constitution, ed. K. Yuill and J. Street. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strazzari, F., and S. Tholens. 2014. ‘Tesco for Terrorists’ Reconsidered: Arms and Conflict Dynamics in Libya and in the Sahara-Sahel Region. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 20 (3): 343–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strazzari, F., and F. Zampagni. 2018. Illicit Firearms Circulation and the Politics of Upheaval in North Africa, In Triggering Terrorism, ed. N. Duquet. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stur, B. 2015. Finland Gunning to Opt-Out on EU Firearms Directive. New Europe, December 15. https://www.neweurope.eu/article/finland-gunning-to-opt-out-on-eu-firearms-directive/.

  • Taylor, Z., C. Phillips, and S. Bogosavlj. 2005. Living with the Legacy: SALW Survey Republic of Serbia. UN Development Programme and Saferworld.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, C. 2018. Italian Gun Ownership on the RISE as Populist Salvini Offers Stronger Self Defence Laws. Breitbart News, June 28. https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/06/28/italian-gun-ownership-rise-populist-salvini-proposes-self-defence-policy/.

  • UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). 2013. Global Study on Homicide 2013: Trends, Contexts, Data. Vienna: UNODC.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). 2019. Global Study on Homicide 2019. Book 3: Understanding homicide: Typologies, Demographic Factors, Mechanisms and Contributors. Vienna: UNODC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Brocklin, E. 2015. ‘Ghost Gun’ Murders and Trafficking Cases Are a Law Enforcement Nightmare Come True. The Trace. https://www.thetrace.org/2015/10/ghost-gun-lower-receiver-california/.

  • van Kesteren, J.N. 2014. Revisiting the Gun Ownership and Violence Link: A Multilevel Analysis of Victimization Survey Data. British Journal of Criminology 54: 53–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagstyl, S. 2016. Call to Use Guns on Illegal Migrants Sharpens German debate. Financial Times, February 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter, D. 2017. Colonial Violence: European Empires and the Use of Force. London: Hurst Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, T. 2016. Gun Running Gang Convicted After Largest Seizure of Automatic Weapons in UK. Daily Telegraph, April 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yates, S., B. Akhgar, C. Bates, L. Jopek, and R. Wilson. 2011. A Platform for Discovering and Sharing Confidential Ballistic Crime Data. International Journal of Knowledge and Web Intelligence 2 (2/3): 202–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton, Brighton, East Sussex, UK

    Peter Squires

  2. School of Law, Policing and Forensics, Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent, UK

    Helen Poole

  3. West Midlands Police, West Midlands, UK

    Jo Chilton

  4. Criminology, Newman University, Birmingham, UK

    Sarah Watson

  5. University of Brighton, Brighton, UK

    Helen Williamson

Authors
  1. Peter Squires
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Helen Poole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jo Chilton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sarah Watson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Helen Williamson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Squires .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jill Dando Institute, University College London, London, UK

    David Pérez Esparza

  2. División de Estudios Internacionales, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), Mexico City, Mexico

    Carlos A. Pérez Ricart

  3. Center for American Progress, Washington DC, WA, USA

    Eugenio Weigend Vargas

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Squires, P., Poole, H., Chilton, J., Watson, S., Williamson, H. (2021). A Hidden Time Bomb? Policing Illegal Firearms in Europe. In: Pérez Esparza, D., Ricart, C.A.P., Weigend Vargas, E. (eds) Gun Trafficking and Violence. St Antony's Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65636-2_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65636-2_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-65635-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-65636-2

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation