Argentina

After experiencing high levels of gun violence and several mass shootings in the 2000s, Argentina established a national framework to prevent the proliferation of weapons and ammunition in the country and classified gun-related violence as a public health issue. It notably developed a National Programme for the Voluntary Surrender of Firearms, which allowed the government to collect and destroy about 300,000 guns and two million rounds of ammunition.

The country’s weapons and ammunition management practices are considered efficient, and Argentina has notably received assistance over the years from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) to improve its weapons and ammunition stockpile management and disposal capacities.

Sources: “Arms Control Exchange: From Argentina to Bosnia and Herzegovina,” World Future Council, June 30, 2014, https://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/arms-control-exchange-argentina-bosnia-herzegovina/; Alyn Ware, ed., Assuring our Common Future: A Guide to Parliamentary Action in Support of Disarmament for Security and Sustainable Development, Disarmament Handbook (Czech Republic: Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, 2020), https://disarmamenthandbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/disarmament-handbook-2020_v07.pdf; Natasa Loizou, “El desarme voluntario como política pública del Estado,” El Pais, July 7, 2022, https://www.pagina12.com.ar/435284-el-desarme-voluntario-como-politica-publica-del-estado; “Desarme Voluntario,” Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos Argentina, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/justicia/anmac/pevaf; “Argentina’s National Programme: Surrender of Firearms,” FuturePolicy.org,  February 2015, https://www.futurepolicy.org/culture-of-peace/argentinas-national-programme-for-the-voluntary-surrender-of-firearms/; David Gacs et al., “Explainer: Gun Laws in Latin America’s Largest Economies,” AS/COA, August 26, 2021, https://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-gun-laws-latin-americas-largest-economies; “UNODC Participates in the Destruction of 25,000 Firearms in Argentina,” UNODC, August 2016, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/firearms-protocol/news/unodc-participates-in-the-destruction-of-25-000-firearms-in-argentina.html; “UNLIREC Provides Assistance to Argentina in Weapons Destruction and Stockpile Management,” Mapping ATT-Relevant Cooperation and Assistance Activities Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, May 2013, https://att-assistance.org/activity/unlirec-provides-assistance-argentina-weapons-destruction-and-stockpile-management.