By Nicolas Florquin and Keith KrauseDecember 28
On Nov. 14, the day after the deadly coordinated attacks in Paris, French prosecutor François Molins provided the first official insights into the firearms used by the terrorist commandos. According to his statement, the teams all used “Kalashnikovs,” while ammunition of various caliber, but primarily 7.62 mm, was found on the scene. Despite speculation that the weapons may have come from the Balkans or various conflict zones, available information is too limited for any meaningful interpretation. There are nearly 200 varieties of AK-pattern rifles (specialists’ term for the Kalashnikov rifle family) produced in at least 30 countries — the possible sources are therefore endless.
While the current veil of secrecy is understandable and meant to protect the ongoing investigation, it is also harmful for public understanding of the issues at stake. A clear example emerged from the information released on one of the firearms used in the previous Paris attacks of January 2015.
Mediapart, a French investigative news outlet, revealed in September that a “CZ 58″ rifle was found on the scene of the hostage taking at the Hyper Cacher market. According to official French police documents published by the magazine, a Belgian national legally purchased the weapon on Jan. 13, 2014, in a “neutralized” state at a specialized store in Slovakia. It was then presumably converted to fire live ammunition for use by Amedy Coulibaly in the attack, although where and when this happened remain unclear.
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It was not a Kalashnikov. The CZ 58 is a commonly used term for the Sa vz. 58 rifle, manufactured in the Czech Republic. Coulibaly can be seen sitting next to the Compact version of the weapon in stills of his post-mortem video. The Sa vz. 58 Compact’s general physical resemblance to the AKS-74U, the AK variant that frequently appeared in videos next to Osama bin Laden, is perhaps a deliberate symbolic choice. Yet the two rifles are mechanically different, and specialists do not even consider vz. rifles to belong to the Kalashnikov family.
Distinguishing between different models of Kalashnikovs — or in this case, between AK-pattern rifles and other rifles such as the Sa vz. 58 — is of great importance for policymakers and the public. While the reported use of Kalashnikovs by terrorists is often interpreted as indication that the weapons might have come from the Balkans or even Libya, more detailed information on the firearm models seized can lead to a more informed debate. The Sa vz. 58 rifle owned by Coulibaly points to a problem within the E.U. itself: legislative differences among the member states on what constitutes a firearm and the extent to which blank and deactivated weapons should be similarly regulated.
Releasing more detailed information about the firearms used in the Paris attacks — and about the weapons used in crime more generally — would help curtail speculation about their origins, and improve policymaking. More than a month after the Nov. 13 events, only little information is available about the other firearms used by the attackers in both the January and November Paris attacks.
Reports suggest some of the AK-pattern rifles used in November were manufactured in Serbia in the 1980s, but how and when they were smuggled into western Europe remains unclear. The lack of public knowledge around the firearms used in these horrific attacks is symptomatic of deeper challenges to systematically collect and analyze data on illicit firearms within the E.U. and its neighboring countries. In spite of recent attempts to address this gap, current knowledge on firearms smuggling in Europe remains patchy, gleaned from specific arrests and seizures, and leading to widely differing estimates of the scale of the problem.
It should not be so. Precise information and analysis can inform good policy. On Dec. 15, the European Commission issued new guidelines to strengthen regulations on deactivated firearms and alarm guns, thereby addressing a loophole highlighted by both experts and Coulibaly’s Sa vz. 58. The E.U. and its member states need to better communicate on the extent and exact nature of firearms trafficking in the region. This includes more coordinated data collection and the more systematic release of policy-relevant information.
E.U. member states have been at the forefront of international efforts to tackle illicit trafficking in weapons, including the recently adopted Arms Trade Treaty. They have also strongly supported efforts to document in detail the arms and ammunition found circulating in several conflict zones. Ironically, there is today more detailed information available on the arms used by armed groups in Syria than those used in the Charlie Hebdo or recent Paris attacks.
Nicolas Florquin is research coordinator and Keith Krause is program director at Small Arms Survey, a Swiss nonprofit affiliated with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.