The spread of small arms has become a major challenge for the maintenance of law and order in Bangladesh. The country’s association with small arms is not new; what is new is its large scale use. Earlier, Bangladesh was only used as a transit route for smuggling small arms, but now it is listed as a user of these weapons according to a research published by the United Nations.

It is estimated that there are about 200,000 illegal firearms in Bangladesh, a fourth of which is in Dhaka. There are 80 syndicated terrorist and criminal groups, of which again 28 are in Dhaka. About 600 to 700 illegal firearms enter the country everyday through its borders.

Small arms come from various sources in Bangladesh. Surprisingly, the government itself is a major source for spread of these weapons. A large number of them are looted from law enforcement agencies. Criminals, terrorists and extremists also get these weapons through legal channels.

During Operation Clean Heart, the Bangladesh government issued a directive to supplement the efforts of the army by which it asked all licensed arms holders to surrender their weapons by 15 November 2002. Only a very small percentage of arms were surrendered. Government increased the deadline by another week, but the response was not much. Almost two thirds of the legally issued arms remained untraced. Interestingly, most people were not found at the addresses they had given while procuring the arms.

Small arms are also manufactured locally in illegal factories found all over Bangladesh. However, the most important source of small arms in Bangladesh is through smuggling. Chittagong port and its neighbouring areas are major sources of arms smuggling in Bangladesh.

In 2002, Cox's Bazar topped the list among the districts across the country in the recovery of arms, contraband goods and arrest of criminals. The Cox's Bazar police recovered 582 illegal arms and 429 rounds of ammunition in different raids in eight upazilas of the district during the year. The recovered arms included 579 country made guns, three foreign guns and one grenade. Police arrested 173 people in this connection and recorded 115 arms act cases.

It was reported in January this year that some 50 thousand illegal firearms, including several hundred sophisticated weapons like AK-47, AK-56, M-16, SMG, SMC with a huge stock of ammunition were in the possession of underworld criminals in Chittagong.

The easy availability of small arms has played a major role in the deteriorating law and order situation in Bangladesh. On several occasions miscreants were found to possess better arms than policemen. They feel confident enough to attack policemen at will. Ten cops, including three sub-inspectors, were killed in 17 armed attacks in the last 16 months in greater Khulna district. Police has so far been unable to apprehend any of the killers.

According to one estimate, over 5,000 outlaws are in possession of illegal firearms in the south-western districts, while there are 62,151 policemen in 4,197 camps for ensuring security to over 15 million people in the area. The outlaws have modern arms, while most of the arms with the police are outdated, which results in a low morale in the police.

Women and children are major victims of these small arms. 3105 persons were murdered in the country in 2001; more than 1500 were murdered with guns. 10 percent of them were women above 18 years of age and another 10 per cent were girls below 18 years of age. Most of the women and girls murdered were killed after rape.  923 persons were abducted at gunpoint in the same year, 57 per cent were women and girl children. 1673 women and girls were raped in the same year, mostly at gun point, 36 per cent of them were below 18 years of age and 30 percent of them were below 16 years of age.

Small arms have become a menace in Bangladesh. This illegal trade has a direct effect on the country's social, economic and political problems. The rule of law has virtually collapsed in the country. Terrorists and extortionists are having a field day. Law enforcement authorities have a tenuous control over certain areas. The failure of Operation Clean Heart has proved that ad-hoc measures can only bring momentary relief. For long term improvement of the situation, the government has to take action on many fronts. Checking the growth of small arms is one of them.