The proliferation and availability of illegal firearms in the Member States increases the risk of their use by terrorist groups to carry out attacks in the EU.

Illegal firearms are increasingly accessible due to their availability online.

Recent terrorist attacks in the EU carried out by jihadist terrorists using trafficked firearms have demonstrated the lethal consequences of the trade in illicit firearms. Several incidents of violent clashes between criminal gangs have highlighted that the use of illegal firearms remains a significant threat to EU citizens.

ONLINE TRADE

Firearms are frequently traded on online platforms including Darknet marketplaces. Both individual criminals and OCGs obtain illegal firearms via online marketplaces. This development has resulted in a significant increase in the use of parcel and postal services to traffic firearms and firearm components.

Online trade allows individuals with no or limited connections to organised crime to procure firearms. These individual criminal actors increasingly engage in the trafficking of firearms and firearm components as part of a CaaS business model and have emerged as key distributors of illegal firearms in the EU. The online trade in illegal firearms via various platforms is set to expand further over the coming years.

DIVERSION FROM LEGAL SUPPLY

Firearms traffickers are highly adept at exploiting legal loopholes and differences in regulatory regimes between Member States to divert firearms from legal suppliers. The reactivation of deactivated weapons and conversion of blank-firing firearms are among the main sources of illegal firearms trafficked in the EU. Firearms traffickers often convert blankfiring firearms or reactivate deactivated firearms purchased from legal dealers based in countries applying less stringent acquisition rules such as more permissive licensing and registration requirements.

Various conflict zones in the periphery of the EU have the potential to emerge as major sources of firearms trafficked to the EU.

In June 2016, Italian law enforcement authorities arrested two members of the mafia clan ‘Ceusi’ on charges of firearms trafficking. The suspects had purchased over 160 decommissioned firearms from Slovakia. Some of the firearms were reactivated and sent to Malta in parcels. The Italian OCG maintained links with Egyptian OCGs involved in migrant smuggling activities. ³⁶

Using post and parcel services is now the most common way of trafficking firearms in the EU.