The problem of Illegal arms trading is complex. Procurement and sale of illegal weapons worldwide involved so many venues where each terrorist or terrorist organizations can buy arms. When bought, it is easy to trade arms across international borders because of corrupt agents, open borders and advantages of lax security, these resources can be used as facilitation of procurement and trade of illegal weapons. Once brought across borders, they use in conflicts across the globe and reason of killing innocent civilians.
In today’s digital age, other venues facilitate black markets, which boast the sale of weapons. We all are aware of the United States is the largest exporter of legal weapons but another fact the US is also the most common source country for arms found on the dark web.
Sixty percent of all the weapons sold on the dark web are smuggled out of the US, according to research from the RAND Corporation along with the University of Manchester, began investigating the illegal trade in firearms, explosives and ammunition available on Silk Road-esque marketplaces. The pair believe that sellers are making a large profit by buying guns in the US and shipping them to Europe, where prices are higher.
Last year, a Global Financial Integrity study estimated the average price of AK-47 on the darknet is in the $2,800 to $3,600 range.
The global market of arms sale is about 60 billion dollars surveyed by Arms Control Association and others say the market value is up to 100 billion dollars. The US controls the arms market with 33% share. Russia with 10%. There are estimates that state, 10–20% of the arms traded ending up on the illegal arms black market. Today, this market includes a new avenue for illicit trade such as the Dark Web. Security Council already debated about halting illicit trade on the Dark Web.
Blockchain Can Help To Stop Trading Of Illegal Arms in Black Market
To fight against the illegal trading of arms is possible through Blockchain Technology by creating a global immutable database. The Blockchain would help to track any weapon from the time of their inception. The Blockchain prevents the hacking of that system as well. This being essential as it lessens the possibility of a single hack (please read in details about Blockchain Technology) used to proceeds illegal sale and procurement of weaponry from that multinational database. We know it is possible and practical because of the power of Blockchain technology, it very practical to stops illegal trading.
Let us understand it with some details:
Gun Tracking using Blockchain to avoid terrorism activities:
If gun possession-related information were logged and connected through blockchain, it could provide a connected infrastructure for tracking where weapons came from in the event of unlawful use. I penned down about this problem after hearing the twin terror attacks on the Muslim mosques in New Zealand.
By the implementation of Blockchain Technology, we would have a database to track the purchases of guns, transfers and manufacturers. The log would also be exact and hack-proof. And easy to use with purchasers, vendors and regulators. The regulators will take advantage of the information available on Blockchain explorer. Before each sale, purchasers required to pass a background check. Both the seller and gun dealer would have to approve a sale before it happened. Every gun would have an electronic gun safe; this would not be physical but digital. The digital gun safe on top of some Blockchain as like cryptocurrency wallet to support the transparency and gun control in an open environment with the help of participants. The information in the safe is only accessible through the owner’s retina scan or fingerprint, or some other way (debatable) of biometric data. The environment should be at the multinational scale.
The Blockchain is the tool to fight against illegal trade of arms in the Black market but Blockchain technology should not be an end-all, rather collaborate among many others. Now, it is a time that governments should start thinking how to fight against this trade using technology and how to mitigate the sale and procurement of illegal arms in the Black market especially Dark Web by using advanced technologies such as Blockchain and others for the safety of entire humanity.
The Author is a Pakistani Blockchain Evangelist and involved in international Blockchain based projects, He is the Founder of Go4 Blockchain. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mahsankhan92
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