They fuel real wars in places like Liberia, Colombia, Somalia, Kashmir and Chechnya. In both cases the dealers involved are sophisticated international entrepreneurs who have become adept at circumventing government interdiction efforts. But there are differences as well. For one, the United States is not just a recipient in the gun trade but a major supplier as well. Norinco, one of two Chinese arms firms allegedly involved in smuggling ring in San Francisco, sells many guns and other weapons to a wide variety of legitimate clients around the world every year.
Guns usually enter the illegal market through one of several methods.
In some cases, they are stolen from government arsenals or acquired from corrupt guards and officials. Many of the guns now in international circulation were originally procured from loosely guarded stock piles in the former Soviet Union where destitute soldiers are all too willing to sell weapons and ammunition for extra dollars. Governments have also been known to engage in illicit arms trafficking. The Soviets, for their part, assisted in the clandestine shipment of arms to rebel groups in Africa and Latin America. Today, the Iranian government is suspected of employing such methods to supply weapons to Bosnian Muslims, the Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Muslim groups.