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This chapter examines the extent to which conservative women use gendered appeals to fight for gun rights, including portraying guns as an “equalizer” against men who may attack their families. Conservative women also oppose efforts to control access to certain types of weapon and ammunition, calling them paternalistic, arguing instead that women’s right to bear arms is an important feminist principle that allows women to protect themselves and their families.

Chapter 6 provides a careful examination of the cultural influences behind some common Albanian criminal activities. Should one blame the Albanian customary Kanun laws for the increased involvement of Albanians in trafficking women for sexual exploitation? Basically, how do Albanian criminals select illicit markets? Do cultural and emotional factors play a role in the selection of criminal activities? This chapter elaborates on the nature of the criminal activities in which Albanian offenders are commonly engaged. It reflects on the neutralization techniques used by Albanian organized crime figures to justify their crimes. It also examines links between culture and gender, human trafficking and subordination of women, illicit trade in firearms and gun culture, and extortion and hospitality.

This chapter addresses arms trafficking in four sections: the nature and extent of the harm; the structure of arms trafficking (considered in terms of source, transit and demand); regulation and control; and finally a discussion about arms trafficking as business enterprise. The various routines and usual patterns of arms trafficking are reviewed, including vulnerable stockpiles, markets in military weapons, state involvement, and large-scale trafficking, as well as consumer markets and small-time smuggling. The structure of arms trafficking networks is considered, looking at facilitators and brokers as well as the central players such as notorious high-level traffickers like Viktor Bout. Regulation and prosecution is shown to be challenging, with various factors inherent to this form of trafficking adding up to severe difficulties for those who aim to control the problem. As with other chapters, the final section works through the business aspects of arms trafficking, integrating emotional and cultural considerations into the cold economics of the crime, to give us a rounded view of the supply and demand dynamics in markets for illegal weapons.