“If you get into the business you have to arm up”: The possession, display and discharge of firearms by members of organized criminal groups.

• In Event: Illicit Firearms and Organized Crime

Abstract

The chapter examines different types of firearms use in the context of organised crime and organised criminal groups. This will include carrying, displaying (e.g., revealing a gun during the course of a crime), through to discharging guns during a crime or as a means to prove one’s mettle to peers etc. This will include discussion of the meaning of guns, as opposed to other types of weapons in interviewees lives, with a focus on organised crime type offences (drug trafficking etc) and being a member or associate of organised criminal groups.
The chapter draws from 75 in-depth interviews with prisoners convicted of gun-related crime in Australia and focuses specifically on the lived experience of participants in illicit firearms market. In this paper, we explore the use of crime guns by members of organised criminal groups and in the commission or ‘organised crime’ offences such as drug trafficking.
We explore a range of themes drawing on interviews including preferences for particular types of firearms; firearms to enhance status and power; firearms and protection in the illicit drug trade; firearms and ripping off drug dealers; and firearms and conflicts between organised criminal groups. We discuss implications of the results for policy and practice.

Author

• David Bright, Deakin University