ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the links between forms of organised crime and forms of statutory authority in the ambit of processes and practices of governing firearms and armed violence. It looks at the connections between state authorities and forms of organised crime in highly contested contexts characterised by armed conflict. The chapter discusses the situations of governing firearms and armed violence outside of “war zones.” It discusses the processes of the regulation and criminalisation of arms and armed violence production and trade. The chapter aims to illustrate the main research areas in which topics about processes and practices of governing the means of violence have been framed and studied. It focuses on the continuities and overlaps between forms of statutory and so-called criminal actors, which allows us to suggest the limitations inherent in maintaining the study of firearms and the means of violence along categories of commerce, crime, conflict and post-conflict.
