Illicit Firearms Markets and Organized Crime Global, Regional, and Local Perspectives

by Bright, David

• ISBN13: 9780198902379
• ISBN10: 0198902379
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-05-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Illicit firearms are a key enabler of organized criminal groups and illegal trade. They facilitate conflict over control of these markets, deter legitimate state actors from intervening, are deployed to threaten and coerce communities, to extort money from victims, and to facilitate a range of crimes. The sale of illegal firearms and organized crime combine to cause significant economic, social, and political harm. There is a clear and pressing need for better understanding of how illicit firearms markets are related to other forms of transnational organized crime, including drug trafficking.

Illicit Firearms Markets and Organised Crime is an interdisciplinary collection with contributions from leading and emerging experts whose research considers the intersections between illicit firearms, organized crime, and criminal networks across the globe. This cutting-edge research considers the trade of illegal firearms in different regions, with a specific focus on the interconnections and interrelationships between this trade and organised crime. Each chapter considers a particular global region and / or a specific thematic area, and sheds light on the links between the markets, the trafficking of firearms, and organized crime.

A number of key themes emerge from this collection including: the methods and routes by which firearms enter illicit markets; illegal firearms as facilitators and enablers of other criminal markets and crimes; the role of illicit firearms in exacerbating organized crime and violence; as well as policy responses to illegal firearms and the efficacy of such, including unintended consequences.

Author Biography

David Bright, Professor of Criminology, Deakin University

Professor David Bright is a criminologist and forensic psychologist. His research interests include criminal networks, organised crime, and illicit markets (e.g., drugs, firearms). He is Director of the Deakin Covert Networks Lab which conducts ground-breaking research using social network analysis and related approaches to study organised criminal groups and terrorist groups. Professor Bright has been Chief Investigator on five consecutive Australian Research Council (ARC) funded projects in addition to projects funded by industry and government. He is currently appointed to the ARC College of Experts. Professor Bright is the author (with Professor Chad Whelan) of Organised Crime and Law Enforcement: A Network Perspective (published by Routledge in 2021) which applies a network theoretical lens to organised crime.

Table of Contents

Introduction, David BrightPart I.1. The Illicit Sources of Guns to Criminal Groups in the United States, Anthony Braga2. Organized Crime and Illicit Firearms in Europe, Lina Grip3. Illicit Firearms, Organized Crime, and Illegal Economies in South-east Asia, Michael E. Picard4. The Nexus of Firearms and Organized Crime in Latin America, Carlos A. Pérez Ricart5. Illicit Firearms Markets and Organized Crime in Eastern Europe, Piotr Chlebowicz6. Illicit Firearms Markets and Organized Crime in Africa, Adewunmi J. Falode and Wasiu A. Balogun7. Not Just a Ballistic Affair: Firearms Trafficking, Crime, and Violence in the Caribbean, Nicolas Florquin, Simon Anderson, Anne-Séverine Fabre, Callixtus Joseph, and Joy St. JohnPart II.8. Firearms Technology and Organized Crime: Assessing the Threat, Monique Mann, David Bright, and Ashley Allen9. Illicit Firearms Markets Accessible Through the Dark Web, David Décary-Hétu, Arielle Chainé, and Étienne Blais10. A Multiplex Network Perspective on Illicit Firearms Trafficking, Fenna van der Wijk, David Bright, and Freddie Kootstra11. 'If You Get into the Business, You Have to Arm Up': The Possession, Display and Discharge of Firearms by Members of Organized Criminal Groups, David Bright and Mark Halsey12. Firearms, Conflict, and Terrorism-A Violent Nexus, Annelies Pauwels and Nils DuquetConclusion, David Bright