Under such circumstances, making firearms available is like lighting a match near a fuel tank. Colombian s have adopted the idea that personal or societal problems can be resolved through the barrel of a gun. Although weapons are often acquired to provide a sense of security, the outcome may be the exact opposite. If security for a state, a community, or an individual is to be obtained by the reliance on firepower, then one can never get enough of them. The more heavily armed a society is, the more secure it may come to feel.
Armed societies are insecure societies.
Once certain members of society begin to resolve disputes and secure livelihood through the use of violence, then others are obliged to protect themselves in the same manner. In Colombia, small arms have become a defining features of the country s civil strife. There are now an estimated to be one million lethal and five million illegal weapons in the country, resulting largely from a convergence of political terrorism and drug-related violence. Light weapons are characterized by their accessibility, durability and utility. Because they can be carried by individual combatants, they are easy to transport, smuggle and hide.