July 14, 2021.
The effective and efficient management of weapon and ammunition stockpiles is an essential element of any national small arms and light weapons control system. The Small Arms Survey estimates that, as of 2017, there were 133 million firearms in military arsenals, and 23 million are owned by law enforcement agencies. However, the vast majority of firearms are in civilian hands (85% of the more than one billion firearms in global circulation). Managing these stockpiles is important to reduce the risk of loss and theft of weapons (and by extension, their illicit proliferation).
Stockpile management also enables states to identify obsolete and/or surplus weapons. Given their explosive nature, stockpiles of ammunition must also be effectively and efficiently managed. What is stockpile management? Stockpile management refers to specific technical areas related to the safety and security of managing small arms and light weapons (SALW), ammunition and explosives and includes accounting, storage and location of stockpiles, transportation and destruction of surplus. Adequate and effective stockpile management requires comprehensive planning and is essential for three main reasons: reducing the risk of loss and theft, identifying surplus and providing the basis for future procurement needs.
As stated in the stockpile management section of the Modular Small-arms-control Implementation Compendium (MOSAIC), the systematic control of weapon stockpiles “is in keeping with a philosophy of ‘due care’ and requires that States take a proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to ensuring that weapons are adequately accounted for and secured”.4 Why is stockpile management important? The management, including disposal (preferably through destruction), of small arms and ammunition held by governments (national armed forces, police, and other state security forces) is a key component in curbing small arms proliferation.