Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gun Violence, Gun Proliferation, and Security Governance

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Gun Control Policies in Latin America

Part of the book series: International Series on Public Policy ((ISPP))

  • 339 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter addresses the Latin American security crisis and the role that guns and their owners play in these dynamics. Crime and violence have increased sharply in recent decades and turned into the main problems in the region. Guns are the preferred weapon of choice to commit murders and their use as murder weapons is more frequent than anywhere else. This chapter finds that the relationship between gun proliferation and gun murders is not linear, but that there are important correlations that suggest that gun violence is driving high murder rates in most countries. Moreover, it is not the sheer number of guns in circulation but the social context in which gun owners are embedded that has an impact on the rates of murder. The analysis concludes that Latin American states face a combination of risk factors and institutional limitations that hinder their capacities to regulate armed citizens and guide their behavior. As a result, gun owners play different roles within the governance of security and are better conceptualized as nodes in a nodal governance model, which supposes an autonomous participation in the provision of security.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agnew, Robert. 1992. “Foundation for a General Strain Theory.” Criminology 30 (1): 47–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Althaus, Dudley, and Steven Dudley. 2014. Mexico’s Security Dilemma: Michoacán’s Militias: The Rise of Vigilantism in Mexico and Its Implications Going Forward. Washington, DC: Wilson Center and InSight Crime.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvazzi del Frate, Anna, and Luigi de Martino. 2015. “Every Body Counts: Measuring Violent Deaths.” Small Arms Survey—Research Notes 49 (March).

    Google Scholar 

  • Animal Político. n.d. “To Murder in Mexico: Impunity Guaranteed.” Accessed December 1, 2018. https://www.animalpolitico.com/kill-murder-mexico/.

  • ARGENTINA-MJSDH. 2010. Estudio de Victimización 2010 - Informe Ejecutivo. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ministerio de Justicia, Seguridad y Derechos Humanos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias, Patricia. 2009. Seguridad Privada En América Latina: El Lucro y Los Dilemas de Una Regulación Deficitaria. Santiago de Chile: FLACSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias, Enrique Desmond, and Corinne Davis Rodrigues. 2006. “The Myth of Personal Security: Criminal Gangs, Dispute Resolution, and Identity in Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas.” Latin American Politics and Society 48 (4): 53–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barragan, M., N. Sherman, K. Reiter, and G. E. Tita. 2016. “‘Damned If You Do, Damned If You Dont’: Perceptions of Guns, Safety, and Legitimacy Among Detained Gun Offenders.” Criminal Justice and Behavior 43 (1): 140–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergman, Marcelo. 2018. More Money, More Crime: Prosperity and Rising Crime in Latin America. London: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, Donald. 1983. “Crime as Social Control.” American Sociological Review 48 (1): 34–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford, Ben, Jonathan Jackson, and Mike Hough. 2014. “Police Legitimacy in Action: Lessons for Theory and Practice.” In The Oxford Handbook of Police and Policing, edited by Michael D. Reisig and Robert J. Kane, 551–70. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • BRAZIL: MS/SVS/CGIAE. n.d. “DATASUS.”

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, Wendy. 2010. Walled States, Waning Sovereignty. New York: Zone Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • CAF (Corporación Andina de Fomento). 2014. Por Una América Latina Más Segura: Una Nueca Perspectiva Para Prevenir y Controlar El Delito. Bogotá, Colombia: Panamericana Formas e Impresos S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cano, Ignacio, and Emiliano Rojido. 2017. “Introducción: La Singularidad de La Violencia Letal En América Latina.” Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals 116 (September): 7–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, Jennifer D. 2015. Citizen-Protectors: The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • CEPAL (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe). 2012. Población, Territorio y Desarrollo Sostenible. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014. Panorama Social de América Latina 2014. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2017. Panorama Social de América Latina 2017. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloward, Richard A., and Lloyd E. Ohlin. 1960. Delinquency and Opportunity: A Theory of Delinquent Gangs. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, Philip J., and Jens Ludwig. 2000. Gun Violence: The Real Costs. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corporación Latinobarómetro. 2017. Informe 2017. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Corporación Latinobarómetro.

    Google Scholar 

  • Decker, Scott H., and David C. Pyrooz. 2010. “Gang Violence Worldwide: Context, Culture, and Country.” In Small Arms Survey 2010: Gangs, Groups, and Guns, 129–55. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamint, Rut. 2015. “A New Militarism in Latin America.” Journal of Democracy 26 (4): 155–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupont, B., P. Grabosky, and C. Shearing. 2003. “The Governance of Security in Weak and Failing States.” Criminal Justice 3 (4): 331–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. 1977. Discipline and Punish. London: Allen Lane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garland, David. 1997. “‘Governmentality’ and the Problem of Crime: Foucault, Criminology, Sociology.” Theoretical Criminology 1 (2): 173–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • GDS (Geneva Declaration Secretariat). 2011. Global Burden of Armed Violence 2011: Lethal Encounters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. Global Burden of Armed Violence 2015: Every Body Counts. Geneva: Geneva Declaration Secretariat.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilgen, Elisabeth. 2012. “A Fatal Relationship: Guns and Deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean.” In Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets, edited by Small Arms Survey, 9–39. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Godoy, Angelina S. 2004. “When ‘Justice’ Is Criminal: Lynchings in Contemporary Latin America.” Theory and Society 33: 621–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, Donna. 2007. “Gun Politics: Reflections on Brazil’s Failed Gun Ban Referendum in the Rio de Janeiro Context.” In Open Fire: Understanding Global Gun Cultures, edited by Charles Fruehling Springwood, 28–41. Oxford: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, Bernard. 2006. Language of the Gun: Youth, Crime and Public Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemenway, David. 2004. Private Guns, Public Health. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Watch. 2018. World Report 2018: Events of 2017. New York: Seven Stories Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaitman, Laura, and Iván Torre. 2017. “Un Enfoque Sistemático Para Medir El Costo Del Crimen En 17 Países de América Latina y El Caribe.” In Los Costos Del Crimen y de La Violencia: Nueva Evidencia y Hallazgos En América Latina y El Caribe, edited by Laura Jaitman, 21–32. Washington, DC: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID).

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L. 1996. “What Is Vigilantism?” British Journal of Criminology 36 (2): 220–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, Trevor. 2007. “The Governance of Security: Pluralization, Privatization, and Polarization in Crime Control.” In The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, edited by Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan, and Robert Reiner, 4th ed., 842–65. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp, Aaron. 2011. “Excedentes de Armas En América Del Sur.” Documentos de Trabajo de Small Arms Survey 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2018a. “Estimating Global Civilian Held Firearms Numbers.” Small Arms Survey—Briefing Papers. Geneva: Small Arms Survey.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2018b. “Estimating Global Law Enforcement Firearms Numbers.” Small Arms Survey—Briefing Papers. Geneva: Small Arms Survey.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2018c. “Estimating Global Military-Owned Firearms Numbers.” Small Arms Survey—Briefing Papers. Geneva: Small Arms Survey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, Gabriel. 2009. El Sentimiento de Inseguridad. Sociología Del Temor Al Delito. Buenos Aires: Siglo Veintiuno.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koonings, Kees, and Dirk Kruijt. 1999. “Introduction: Violence and Fear in Latin America.” In Societies of Fear: The Legacy of Civil War, Violence and Terror in Latin America, edited by Dirk Kruijt and Kees Koonings, 1–30. New York: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2004. “Armed Actors, Organized Violence and State Failure in Latin America: A Survey of Issues and Arguments.” In Armed Actors: Organized Violence and State Failure in Latin America, edited by Kees Koonings and Dirk Kruijt, 5–15. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lagos, Marta, and Lucía Dammert. 2012. La Seguridad Ciudadana: El Problema Principal de América Latina. Lima: Corporación Latinobarómetro.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loader, Ian, and Neil Walker. 2001. “Policing as a Public Good: Reconstituting the Connections Between Policing and the State.” Theoretical Criminology 5 (1): 9–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lott, John R. 1998. More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, Nicholas. 2002. “Two Sides of the Same Coin? The Legal and Illegal Trade in Small Arms.” The Brown Journal of World Affairs IX (1): 217–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, Robert K. 1938. “Social Structure and Anomie.” American Sociological Review 3 (5): 672–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • MEXICO-INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía). n.d. “Homicide Database.” Accessed December 1, 2018. www.inegi.org.mx.

  • Moreano, Hernán, Claudia Donoso, Daniel Pontón, Jorge Núnez Vega, Andreina Torres, and Manuel Dammert Guardia. 2006. “La Situación de Armas de Pequeño Calibre y La Población Civil de Ecuador.” Ciudad Segura: Programa Estudios de La Ciudad 2: 4–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mosteiro Vaselli, Mariana. 2016. “La Violencia Con Armas de Fuego En Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes: Víctimas y Ofensores.” In Menos Armas, Más Seguridad: Aportes Para La Comprensión de La Problemática de Las Armas de Fuego En El Uruguay, edited by IELSUR, 117–52. Montevideo: IELSUR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muggah, Robert, and Katherine Aguirre Tobón. 2018. “Citizen Security in Latin America: Facts and Figures.” Igarapé Institute, Strategic Paper 33 (April): 1–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, Markus-Michael. 2010. “Private Security and the State in Latin America: The Case of Mexico City.” Brazilian Political Science Review 4 (1): 131–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, David, and T. Gaebler. 1992. Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit Is Transforming the Public Sector. New York: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierre, Jon, and Guy Peters. 2005. Governing Complex Societies: Trajectories and Scenarios. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • PNUD (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo). 2013. Informe Regional de Desarrollo Humano 2013–2014. Seguridad Ciudadana Con Rostro Humano: Diagnóstico y Propuestas Para América Latina. Ciudad de Panamá: PNUD.

    Google Scholar 

  • RAND. 2018. The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United Sates. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rangel Bandeira, Antonio, Pablo Dreyfus, and Marcelo De Sousa Nascimento. 2007. “El Comercio Ilícito de Armas En Brasil.” In Armas Pequeñas y Livianas: Una Amenaza a La Seguridad Hemisférica, edited by Stella Sáenz Breckenridge, 127–46. San José: FLACSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reenen, Piet Van. 2004. “Policing Extensions in Latin America.” In Armed Actors: Organized Violence and State Failure in Latin America, edited by Kees Koonings and Dirk Kruijt, 33–51. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, R. A. W. 1996. “The New Governance: Governing Without Government.” Political Studies 44 (4): 652–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, Nikolas, and Peter Miller. 2010. “Political Power Beyond the State: Problematics of Government. 1992.” The British Journal of Sociology 61 (Suppl 1) (January): 271–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanjurjo, Diego. 2016. “La Influencia de La Posesión Civil de Armas de Fuego En Las Tasas de Homicidio de América Latina y El Caribe.” Documento de Trabajo 1/2016. Real Instituto Elcano.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2017. “The Role of Defensive Firearm Use in the Governance of Security in Latin America.” Theoretical Criminology 21 (3): 324–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder, Matt. 2013. “Captured and Counted: Illicit Weapons in Mexico and the Philippines.” In Small Arms Survey 2013: Everyday Dangers, edited by Small Arms Survey, 283–317. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shearing, C. 2005. “Nodal Security.” Police Quarterly 8 (1): 57–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. “Reflections on the Refusal to Acknowledge Private Governments.” In Democracy, Society and the Governance of Security, edited by Jennifer Wood and B. Dupont, 11–32. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Small Arms Survey. n.d. “Database on Violent Deaths: As of 20 October 2017.” Accessed November 20, 2018. http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/tools/interactive-map-charts-on-armed-violence.html.

  • Soares, Rodrigo R., and Joana Naritomi. 2010. “Understanding High Crime Rates in Latin America: The Role of Social and Policy Factors.” In The Economics of Crime: Lessons for and from Latin America, edited by Rafael Di Tella, Sebastián Edwards, and Ernesto Schargrodsky, 19–55. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spano, R., and J. Bolland. 2010. “Disentangling the Effects of Violent Victimization, Violent Behavior, and Gun Carrying for Minority Inner-City Youth Living in Extreme Poverty.” Crime & Delinquency 59 (2): 191–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer, Robert J. 2008. The Politics of Gun Control, 4th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Springwood, Charles Fruehling. 2007. “Gunscapes: Toward a Global Geography of the Firearm.” In Open Fire: Understanding Global Gun Cultures, edited by Charles Fruehling Springwood, 15–27. Oxford: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • SUCAMEC. 2014. “Armas Incautadas—Reporte 2013.” Pueblo Libre: Punto y Grafía S.A.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, Tom R. 1990. Why People Obey the Law. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNDP (United National Development Program). 2013. Regional Human Development Report 2013–2014 (Summary)—Citizen Security with a Human Face: Evidence and Poposals for Latin America. Panama City: UNDP.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). 2007. Crime and Development in Central America: Caught in the Crossfire. Vienna: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014. Global Study on Homicide 2013. Vienna: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. n.d. “UNODC Statistics Online: Intentional Homicide Victims.” Accessed November 1, 2018. https://dataunodc.un.org/crime/intentional-homicide-victims.

  • URUGUAY-MI (Ministerio del Interior). 2014. Informe Anual Sobre Violenvia y Criminalidad En Todo El País: Año 2014. Montevideo: Observatorio Nacional sobre Violencia y Criminalidad. https://www.minterior.gub.uy/observatorio/images/stories/2014_completo.pdf.

  • ———. 2016. “Informe Anual Sobre Violencia y Criminalidad En Todo El País: Año 2016.” Montevideo: Observatorio Nacional sobre Violencia y Criminalidad. https://www.minterior.gub.uy/observatorio/images/pdf/homicidiosyrapinas_2016.pdf.

  • ———. 2017. “Homicidios: 1o de Enero Al 31 de Diciembre (2016–2017).” Montevideo. https://www.minterior.gub.uy/observatorio/images/pdf/2017/homicidios_2017.pdf.

  • ———. 2018. “Homicidios: 1o de Enero Al 30 de Junio (2017–2018).” Montevideo. https://www.minterior.gub.uy/observatorio/images/pdf/homicidios.pdf.

  • Vilas, Carlos M. 2007. “Linchamientos y Conflicto Politico En Los Andes.” Folios Segunda ép, no. 25: 3–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waiselfisz, Julio Jacobo. 2015. Mapa Da Violência 2016: Homicídios Por Armas de Fogo No Brasil. Brasília, DF: FLACSO Brasil.

    Google Scholar 

  • Widmer, Mireille, and Irene Pavesi. 2016. “Firearms and Violent Deaths.” Small Arms Survey—Research Notes 60 (October).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, Jennifer, and B. Dupont, eds. 2006. Democracy, Society and the Governance of Security. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. n.d. “World Bank Database.” Accessed January 1, 2016. http://data.worldbank.org/.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Political Science, University of the Republic (UdelaR), Montevideo, Uruguay

    Diego Sanjurjo

Authors
  1. Diego Sanjurjo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sanjurjo, D. (2020). Gun Violence, Gun Proliferation, and Security Governance. In: Gun Control Policies in Latin America . International Series on Public Policy . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17917-5_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation