The Legal Framework

Four laws govern exports of small and light arms from the United States.

The Arms Export Control Act is the primary law establishing procedures on sales of military equipment and related services. This law stipulates the purposes for which weapons may be transferred (self-defense, regional or collective defense, and internal security) and establishes a process by which the executive branch must give Congress advance notice of major sales valued at $14 million or more, whether the sale is negotiated by the government or directly by the arms industry or a broker. Section 3 of the Arms Export Control Act mandates that foreign government entities gain U.S. government approval before they re-transfer U.S.-origin arms to a third party.

The Arms Export Control Act is implemented by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which are overseen by the Office of Defense Trade Controls, in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the State Department. The ITAR contain a listing of all categories of equipment considered "munitions." Included in the list are all firearms except for non-military shotguns. Manufacturers or brokers wishing to export such arms must be registered with the Office of Defense Trade Controls, and they must obtain an individual export license from the State Department before making any arms shipment.

The ITAR also include a list of proscribed destinations. Currently, twenty-four governments and one insurgent group are ineligible to import any American weapons. As of January 1999, the governments of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and Zaire (now called Democratic Republic of the Congo) are unable to import munitions from the United States, as is UNITA in Angola.

The State Department imposed these embargoes for a variety of reasons, including U.N. Security Council-mandated arms embargoes (which are binding for all U.N. members), chronic warfare, and/or a determination that the government is a sponsor of terrorist activity. In a few other cases, the administration has established a policy prohibiting or restricting transfers of small arms and crowd control equipment to particular destinations because of human rights concerns, or concerns about diversion of weapons.

The Foreign Assistance Act directs the provision of economic and military aid to foreign governments and militaries. This act provides the authority for the President and the Department of Defense to give away stocks of surplus American arms, which since the mid-1990s has included a large number of small arms. It includes language barring military aid or arms sales to any country that shows a "gross and consistent" pattern of human rights abuse. The Foreign Assistance Act also contains certain proscriptions on the supply of equipment to foreign police forces, although many of the restrictions have been eroded by U.S. counter-narcotics programs over the past several years.

The Export Administration Act governs shipments of dual-use goods—technology with both military and civilian applications. Although this law technically lapsed in 1994, it continues to be implemented by emergency powers of the President. The Bureau of Export Administration at the Commerce Department administers the law through the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which contain the Commerce Control List of items regulated for export on foreign policy or national security grounds. Included in this list, under the heading of police equipment, are non-military shotguns, shotgun components, shotgun shells, stunguns and shock batons.

Companies wishing to export such items must first obtain a license from the Commerce Department for all entities except those in NATO member countries, Australia, New Zealand or Japan. Governments deemed by the State Department to be "state sponsors of terrorism" are prohibited from receiving items controlled for export by the Commerce Department, but some other restrictions placed on State Department-licensed arms exports do not apply to those overseen by the Commerce Department.

Section 6(n) of the Export Administration Act imposes controls on the export of police equipment principally because of human rights concerns. According to a recent Commerce Department report, "Applications for licenses will generally be considered favorably on a case-by-case basis, unless there is evidence that the government of the importing country may have violated internationally recognized human rights and that the judicious use of export controls would be helpful in deterring the development of a consistent pattern of violations or in distancing the United States from such violations." The document goes on to say that the State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices will be consulted in making licensing decisions.

The National Security Act authorizes the executive branch to engage in covert arms supply operations. Section 505 of that act requires the administration to notify congressional intelligence oversight committees of clandestine arms exports valued at $1 million or more.

These laws are amended yearly by Congress, usually through the annual foreign aid and military authorizations and appropriations acts. The implementing regulations are updated frequently to reflect changes in law and policy.