An Ongoing Analysis of the Types of Firearms Illegally Trafficked from the United States to Mexico and Other Latin American and Caribbean Countries as Revealed in U.S. Court Documents
Overview
For this project, the Violence Policy Center collects criminal cases alleging illegal gun trafficking to Mexico and other Latin American and Caribbean countries filed in U.S. federal courts beginning in 2006. The information presented here regarding specific firearms was retrieved exclusively from facts specified by the United States government, primarily in criminal complaints and indictments.
In many of the cases, prosecutors alleged that traffickers were responsible for smuggling larger numbers of guns than were specified in the criminal charging documents. The numbers presented here tabulate only the named weapons specified in court documents associated with the specific criminal charges. Most include manufacturer, model, caliber, and serial number and many include the names of the point-of-sale dealers.
Therefore, the VPC findings offer a snapshot of illegal firearms trafficking to this region from the United States. The findings should not be viewed in any way as offering an estimate of the overall numbers of guns being trafficked from the U.S. into these countries. The court filings that comprise the source information for this snapshot offer a clear picture of the types of firearms most coveted by those trafficking guns from the United States as well as the methods traffickers use to obtain these weapons.
About the Categories
As noted above, all firearm information is taken from court filings. Additional information on each of the categories is detailed below.
Assault Rifles (Total): This entry tabulates the number of firearms that can be classified as assault rifles.
AK-47 Variants: This entry tabulates a subset of the number of assault rifles that can be identified as AK-47 variants.
AR-15 Variants: This entry tabulates a subset of the number of assault rifles that can be identified as AR-15 variants.
50 Caliber Sniper Rifles: This entry tabulates the number of firearms listed that are 50 caliber sniper rifles.
NFA Rifles: This entry tabulates the number of rifles listed as coming under the definition of weapons controlled by the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), which regulates the sale and possession of full-auto machine guns.
Other Rifles: This entry tabulates other rifles not included in the prior categories.
Shotguns: This entry tabulates the number of firearms listed as shotguns.
Assault Pistols (Total): This entry tabulates the number of handguns that can be classified as assault pistols.
AK-47 Variants: This entry tabulates a subset of the number of assault pistols that can be identified as AK-47 variants.
AR-15 Variants: This entry tabulates a subset of the number of assault pistols that can be identified as AR-15 variants.
Body-Armor Penetrating Handguns: This entry tabulates the number of handguns designed to penetrate personal body armor. All of the handguns tabulated are FN Herstal Five-seveN pistols.
Standard Pistols: This entry tabulates other pistols not included in the prior categories.
Standard Revolvers: This entry tabulates standard revolvers.
Other Handguns: This entry tabulates other handguns that do not fit into any of the prior categories, such as Derringers.
Firearm (Type not Stated): This entry tabulates firearms where the type of weapon was not stated.
Adding the following categories together—Assault Rifles (Total), 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles, NFA Rifles, Other Rifles, Shotguns, Assault Pistols (Total), Body-Armor Penetrating Handguns, Standard Pistols, Standard Revolvers, Other Handguns, and Firearm (Type not Stated)—will yield the total number of named firearms tabulated from the court documents. As noted above, this number should not be viewed in any way as offering an estimate of the overall numbers of guns being trafficked from the U.S. into Mexico and other Latin American and Caribbean countries.
