Paper 3
The Real Weapons of Mass Destruction
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “weapons of mass destruction”? I bet a lot of thoughts fly through your head. Some of them might be nuclear weapons, huge missiles, Iran, and the War in Iraq. I bet that you don’t think about a .38 caliber pistol, a grenade, or an AK-47, but the fact is that small arms kill more people every day than nuclear weapons, missiles or bombs. Small arms are illegally trafficked to some of the most destitute places on the planet, mostly in Africa. These guns give people the means to kill themselves and others. The guns that are trafficked into Africa each day will brutally kill a mother and her helpless child, or it will be given to a little boy who was just forced to become a child solider. Illegally trafficked guns are one of the biggest threats that is facing Africa, and that has repercussions that affect everyone.
Most of the weapons that enter Africa come in illegally without documentation. A lot of the guns can pass through security checkpoints through bribing the security guards. Getting guns into Africa is the hardest part, once they are inside the continent bribes can move the guns anywhere and everywhere. Most gun runners chose to either fly or ship their weapons to the continent. They almost always have fake passports, delivery documents, and other types of security papers. Some more advanced gun runners even own their own planes, airports, ports, and ships, this allows them to make the trafficking part a lot simpler. The gun runners are in business because they are good at what they do. They know the system and how to get around it, that is why they are never caught or charged with any type of crimes.
Organized crime is a very big problem that is contributing to the amount of illegal weapons that are being trafficked into Africa every day. Many governments rely on organized crime to help push them into power, and this revolves around violence. Organized crime...