The proliferation of small arms raises concern over its impact on social violence

The United Nations warned about how the increase in the carrying of small arms affects homicide rates, gender-based violence and crimes in domestic settings. The focus is on disarmament strategies and frameworks in various countries.

The growing circulation of firearms around the world is raising concern over their role in humanitarian conflicts and the human rights violations those situations give rise to. International organizations promoting debate on disarmament warn about how the annual proliferation of billions of small arms contributes to rising social violence and security risks. It is a debate in which state policies, social violence, formal and informal markets and highly complex regional contexts intersect. 

In a recent statement, the representative of the United Nations (UN) Council for Disarmament, Adedeji Ebo, emphasized the heavy presence of illicitly held small arms (an estimated 1 billion weapons are currently in circulation worldwide) and their impact on the security crises experienced by countries with high social vulnerability. Regions such as Central America, the Caribbean, the Balkans and Africa are under international scrutiny as major hotspots for these kinds of problems. 

According to figures from the UN human rights office, in 2024 there was a 40% increase over the previous year in the number of civilian deaths in armed conflicts. This amounts to some 48,000 people. According to the report, 30% of those cases were linked to a small arm. It also warned that more than 80% of cases of sexual violence between 2022 and 2024 involved a firearm. 

According to a 2024 analysis released by Amnesty International (AI), 700 people die every day from acts of violence involving the use of firearms. On this point, international observers reinforce the call to develop disarmament strategies and regulate arms trafficking, as well as to debate the role that weapons play in each country in terms of security, defense and civil rights. 

The international organization also highlighted as a concern the failure of the United States and Russia to join the international Arms Trade Treaty, in force since 2014. Both the US and Russia stand out as two of the largest arms exporters in the world, according to the report. 

In August 2023, the state of Mexico put this issue on the agenda by asking the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) to analyze the regulatory frameworks governing the arms market and to establish “obligations” for manufacturing and trading companies. This was based on establishing a regulatory framework in which the “right to life” and personal integrity prevail.

Firearms in Argentina

In Argentina, the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) took part in Mexico’s petition to the IACtHR and submitted a report providing information on the situation in Argentine society. According to 2023 data, only 22% of registered firearm users in Argentina (including members of the Security Forces) had valid, unexpired credentials.

This last figure concerns the legal, regulated firearms system, while the irregular sector, by its very nature, can only be estimated in approximate figures. It is believed that almost 4% of households in Argentina own firearms. According to data from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, 97% of registered gun carriers are men, and 1 in 4 femicides is committed with a firearm.

In 2024, the organization Human Rights Watch warned about the dangers of Resolution 125, made official that year by the Argentine government. The organization pointed out that this measure, promoted by Argentina’s Ministry of Security, which expanded the scope for the use of firearms by security forces, ran counter to international frameworks and amplified the power of “police abuse.” 

In November of this year, a new government measure raised concerns. In this case, it was a new regime issued by the National Arms Registry regarding the requirements for authorizing civilians to carry firearms. According to the Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad (Right to the City Observatory), the measure contains dangerous ambiguities in its provisions. Among its points, the new regime states that, when assessing the legitimacy of a carry permit, a minimum of 5 years as a firearm user “will be taken into account.” The Observatory argues that the criterion of “taking into account” rather than “requiring” this seniority poses a risk of discretion in authorizing the use of weapons. 

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia