Report Recommends More Steps to Curb Illegal Gun Exports to Latin America
A new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that arms trafficking in Latin America is increasingly connected to the U.S. firearms industry, including through illegal and legal exports.
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The report said the “majority of crime guns” used in Central America and the Caribbean, along with a “substantial number” in South America, are being trafficked through the U.S. It also said some of those trafficking issues have been “exacerbated” by a surge in legal shipments of U.S. guns caused by the 2020 transfer of licensing authority over certain small arms exports from the State Department to the Commerce Department (see 2001170030).
The report said the number of semiautomatic pistol exports to Guatemala more than doubled from 2020 to 2023, and Central America “rapidly” became the top destination for pistol exports during that time. CSIS noted that the Bureau of Industry and Security in April issued an interim final rule restricting firearms exports to 36 countries, most of which are in the Caribbean, Latin America and Southeast Asia (see 2404260054).
CSIS said the U.S. needs to do more to curb gun shipments to Latin America, calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to increase the number of investigations and prosecutions of holders of federal firearm licenses that violate federal gun laws. It also said ATF needs to modernize its firearms recordkeeping system to better track illegal gun purchases, and it should follow recommendations recently issued in a Government Accountability Office report on how U.S. guns contribute to firearms trafficking (see 2411150051).