Arms and Trade Group

Nejat , Hyomin, Wassim, Molly and Michel

BISGST 303
Research Proposal
1. Why, Who Benefits, and is it Legal?
For our commodity chain project our group has decided to focus on the M-16 assault rifle. This
topic is more relevant today than ever due to current legislation that is attempting to be passed
limiting access to such weapons; and our current situations in Afghanistan and Iraq where this is
the most commonly issued weapon to our troops. Also the M-16 has been the main weapon used
by the United States military, and its allies, for the past 50 years. Another interesting aspect of
the M-16 project is that it is and can be traded both legally and illegally, within the borders of the
United States and abroad. This is where politics and practice collide; the beneficiaries from the
trade of the M-16 rife are the arms dealers and manufacturers that have both large contracts with
the Governments and also a private sales market here in the United States. The people who bare
the risk, well that would be anyone who is on the wrong end of the gun, quite literally. With gun
violence in the United States far higher than any other developed state in the world it is
interesting to see how we justify the availability, and easy access, of the M-16 and other assault
weapons to the average, everyday citizen. According to Nancy E. Gist, in The Bureau of Justice
Assistances, Reducing Illegal Firearms Trafficking guide, The Federal Bureau of
Investigations 1996 Uniform Crime Reports indicates that firearms were used in 29 percent of
all murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults in the United States in that year. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms-related violence is a leading cause of
injury-related death, second only to automobile-related fatalities (III). These are alarming
numbers that force one to think how and why fire arms are traded so easily within US boarders.
2. Where is it made?
Originally, Colt Industries manufactured the M16 although at the same time multiple different
countries had patents on particular parts of the rifle due to its high demand during the Vietnam
War. As the patents of the M16 were up the U.S. military had exclusive rights to the technical
information of the gun. This allowed for FN Manufacturing to bid on the exclusive rights to
produce the weapon. FN Manufacturing eventually beat out Colt Industries bid in 1988.
Fn manufacturings parent company, Fabrique Nationale de Herstal, was created in Belgium and
in fact has a long history of manufacturing weapons, as it is an international firearms
manufacturer. They typically produce military and law enforcement small arms. Their U.S. based
manufacturing plant is located in Columbia, South Carolina. Both production and their testing
facility are located here after Fabrique Nationale de Herstal established ownership of said
facilities in 1977.
would be an interesting commodity to study.
3. Who consumes it?
Office of the Chief of Staff (ARMY) Washington DC Weapons Systems Analysis. Report of the
M16 Rifle Review Panel.
Who Consumes It:
M16 is the primary U.S. military service rifle that replaced the M14 Grand rifle during the
Vietnam War and it continues to be the primary rifle for all service members of the U.S. Armed
forces. M16 has been widely spread and utilized by many other military forces around the world,

especially nations that are allies with the United States. M16 is the highest produce rifle in
history and with its popularity it wasnt long before M16 was being produced and sold to
civilians with the name of AR-15. The only difference between the two rifle is the firing
functions of the 3 round burst M16 has to semi-automatic fire on the AR -15. M16 was created to
service the United States Armed Forces but as popularity of the rifle progressed it was also
utilized by government and private sectors for the civilian population; police force or private
security for instance. The M16 is also widely collected by civilians for purpose of competition
shooting, hunting, self-defense, and added collection to the gun collectors.
4. Who/how transports it?
There are various ways of transporting it. The is the legal way of transporting which is when two
states or two legal entities are doing trade or are purchasing the commodity in a legal fashion.
This method of transportation doesnt cause as much legal issues as the illegal method of
transporting. The illegal method of transportation often time ends up at the hands of different
groups with political agenda. For our research we will be looking at Syria in the Middle East,
Rwanda in Africa and The united states and how the M16 travels across these countries
5. Is it legal, illegal, or both?
The M16 Bolt carrier are not designed and intended solely and exclusively for use in converting
a weapon into a machine gun and are not any combination of parts from which a machine gun
can be assembled. An M16 bolt carrier is simply just a machine gun part. The bolt carrier is not a
firearm as defined by the GCA and is also not viewed as a machinegun by the NFA. The sale of
this part is legal and unregulated under federal firearms laws. It is not unlawful to utilize an m16
bolt carrier in a semi-automatic AR 15 type of rifle. By modifying a semi-automatic rifle to shoot
automatically makes it a machine gun which is unlawful. At that point it is a creation and is
unlicensed making it illegal.
6. Who benefits and who bears the risks of it?
When we look at the exchange of M16 in the past 16 years Asian countries have played a huge
role. Asian countries have imported 44% share of the global M16 market. Indian and China were
amongst the countries that were on the top of the list. This is the legal M16 trade that was done.
Western countries such as Russia and the US still continue to benefit from the trade of M16 on
the global market. The US accounts for about 30% global export trade. Developing, and war torn
countries such as Somalia, Syria are a bearing the risk of this global arms trade. In Somalia
different organizations have access to arms via illegal means of trade on the black market. This
has been a destabilizing factor in the country. Since these M16 and other weapons end up at the
hands of irresponsible rebels.
Some states such as South Africa have also started purchasing weapons to flux the muscle and
show power. The more weapons a state acquires the more it builds up its continent. States like
South Africa are trying to show the world the power they have.
7. Who, if anyone, protests against this commodity at any point along the chain?
United Nations and other NGOs are fierce opponents of the global arms trade especially that of
the M16. The United Nations general assembly has recently passed a global arms treaty which
seeks to regulate the industry itself to ensure that weapons tay out the hands of criminals. The
arms trade's goal is to make it difficult for deadly weapons such as M16 to be diverted into the
illicit market and to help keep warlords, pirates, terrorist, criminals and their like from acquiring
deadly arms.

Annotated Bibliography
1. History of the M16 Weapon System. Ft. Belvoir : Defense Technical Information Center, 01
JUN 1968.
Annotation:
This document was once classified for government officials only but it was unclassified to the
public February 1, 1994. The purpose for this document was to provide history and functions of
the M16 for the U.S. Armed Forces. The document provides all range of aspects from its firing
capability of the rifle to its reliability through all condition of the environment. This document
also provides survey report of the M16 during the Vietnam War and every detail of test results of
the ammunition. In the end, the documentation provided enough research data for the decision
makers to make the M16 primary service rifle for all branches of the U.S. military.
2.
U.S. Department of Justice
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
John R. Spencer
Chief Firearms technology branch
http://www.gandrtactical.com/images/archive/ATF%20M16%20Letter.pdf
3.Annotation and citation
Dinger, Ed. "FN Manufacturing LLC." International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Tina
Grant. Vol. 110. Detroit: St. James Press, 2010. 155-159. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web.
24 Apr. 2013.
The purpose of this is a book is to specifically provide information and history about the
manufacturing company FN Manufacturing, also known as Fabrique Nationale de Herstal. It
describes how this manufacturing company came to be, where this company is located and
information on the products that they create. When particularly looking at the commodity the
M16, this book addresses where the concept of the gun originally came from as well as how FN
Manufacturing obtained the privilege to produce such a needed piece of military weaponry. This
source is important in this certain project because it provides background information as to
where this rifle is coming from which, is extremely important in mapping its travel through the
world. With a book as valuable as this one is to our research project it is extremely helpful to
figure out as much information about the origin of this rifle as possible. This book provides a
great starting ground for our research.
Gist, Nancy E. Bureau of Justice Assistance. Reducing Illegal Firearms Trafficking Promising
Practices and Lessons Learned. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. 810
Seventh Street NW. Washington, DC 20531. Online.
4. This article is a forward describing the rampant problems facing different areas of the county
involving illegal trade of fire arms. It contains many first hand documents reguarding illegal
trafficking of guns and areas where this crime occurs often and attempts to grasp why and how it
can be prevented. This document will aid in finding information on how the government
attempts to regulate the arms market.
5. P.A.P-Blog, Human Rights ETC.

Human Rights from the perspective of politics, art, philosophy, law economics, statistics and
psychology.
http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights/statistics-on-war-conflict/statistics-onarms-trade/
This is a collection statistics and data on the global M16 trade as well as arm small arms trade.
The statistics also encompasses who the top suppliers and buyers of M16 and other weapons
are, as well as other useful statistics for our research,
6. The Globalization of Arms Industry: the Next proliferation Change by Richard A. Bitzinger
This article is about the international trade of arms including the M16 across different countries
in both legal and illegal means. It addresses the different actors who play major role in the global
arms industry and how power plays a role in that relationship. It looks at different interest groups
such as indigenous industries, different economic and political motives for the way illegal trade
of weapons like M16 happen across national boundaries
7. This is a primary document from the UN Disarmament Commission from the General
Assembly meeting in 1996 and that document could be find below on the link.
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/51/182
8. In this document the UNODA (United Nations Disarmament Association). Arms Control The
New Guide to Negotiations and Agreements by Jozef Goldbalt
This is a collection of international conferences, treaties, chargers and other important decisions
both binding and nonbinding that the international community has signed with regards to the
M16 and the arms trade industry. It looks at the trade and transportation of M16 from a
international institution and international relations point of view.
9. Arms sales, arms control and regional security in the Middle East by Anthony HCordesman
If one looks only at regional trends in military spending and arms transfers, the trends in the
Middle East seem positive. This article looks at the different possible factors that have lead to
this including political and economic factors both on a national and international level.