Do you know an arms dealer?
Pay your luxury tax
Recently, I wrote about the rapid increase in gun sales since Barack Obama was elected president. Let’s take that a step further and look at a profession in which many people assume only criminals deal. Thanks to Jeff Bayer and AskMen.com, a few of the myths about arms dealers have been dispelled. In a nutshell, it’s typically quite legal.
Think about it. You may know somebody famous, but do you honestly know any international arms dealers? I certainly don’t. We know they sell armaments, but that’s about it. The majority of the picture we have in our minds has been created by films (Nicholas Cage’s “Lord of War” or Robert Downey Jr. in “Iron Man“) and television shows. Mr. Bayer, tell us the truth.
Top 5 things you don’t know about arms dealers
- Dealing arms isn’t illegal
Surprised? In most countries, private arms dealing is perfectly legal. Few others even have any laws that specifically forbid arms dealing. According to Bayer, this works primarily because the arms dealer is only a middleman with a phone, computer and bank account. If laws are ever broken, they are import/export laws or United Nations sanctions against offending countries – not arms dealing laws. While some profess to despise arms dealers, the truth is that it happens in every country, and whether the deals made are illegal or not, there is little interference from authorities. Their non-involvement is taken to mean acceptance by some. - The AK-47 is often used as a loss leader
Some dealers, Bayer says, simply give these assault rifles away to trusted buyers. AK-47s only cost about $75 to buy, transport and sell. Profit margins are too low. But many of the high-profile arms dealers don’t bother with this gun at all because the margins it offers are too low. They’re an incentive, a gateway into more profitable items. - Arms buyers need not pay cash
But we aren’t talking bad credit personal loans here. Arms dealers go where the conflict is. “Vulture” and “death merchant” tags aside, it’s simply good business for them. Areas of conflict are typically volatile on a variety of levels, including economic. Thus, dealers do take other items in trade. “Blood diamonds” from the mines of West Africa are one example Bayer gives. Even though 50-plus countries honor the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme that is meant to prevent illicit (dangerous) diamond importing of this nature, the market remains strong. - Arms dealers’ salaries run into the millions
Bayer gets this from sources close to the action. According to Jean Bernard Lasnaud, a French-born arms dealer living in Florida, “between $1 million and $2.5 million (U.S.) in merchandise will be unloaded in an average year.” Dealer Viktor Bout claims he made $50 million selling to the Taliban in the 1990s. American arms manufacturers even use arms dealers. Boeing, for instance, contracted Dale Stoffel for 34 Russian missiles so that American ship defense systems could be tested. - Arms dealers will sell anything and everything
Bayer points out that arms dealers aren’t merely guns and ammo salesmen. They’re “war providers.” In addition to armaments, vehicles, communications equipment, medicine, uniforms and food are also typically available. The items are typically purchased in one country, then shipped to another via ship or airplane. More successful dealers may even have their own shipping fleet.
Clearly, the world needs to tax them for revenue
President Obama’s call for limiting executive salaries for TARP-dependent businesses doesn’t go far enough. All people internationally who earn $1 million per year or more should be subject to a luxury tax. They can afford it and the world needs it, as economies are deflating across the globe. Arms dealers are known; the money changing hands at one time is too large to hide completely. World leaders should work together to institute this tax. In turn, arms dealers could actually build good will with more than military leaders for a change. War and conflict are part of human nature, so arms dealers aren’t going away any time soon. They can pay it forward for the survivors.
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Authorities don’t want to get fully involved in this practice because it has a very strong position in the economy, some say. Gun sales are definitely on the rise and I think authorities should step in on solid grounds. Guns and weapons in general are deadly, but necessary in many areas. Just like personal loans, gun sales/ exchange activities should be documented and used responsibly.
While the practice of international arms trade has several tiers, one being the seller who will sell to anyone, regardless of anything as long as they can pay – and that is certainly criminal and morally reprehensible, let us not forget that the largest arms dealer in the world, far and away, is actually the U.S. government. We have sold arms to just about anyone you can think of. Carter sold arms and provided training to the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Reagan and Oliver North sold arms to Saddam and the Ayatollah while they were both fighting each other, and also to Central American revolutionary groups that would have established military dictatorships, but were given status because they would have been friendly to economic interests. The list goes on, and those ex-presidents who did so are on a Presidential pension (except Reagan – he’s dead) and out of jail. Its good you mentioned Lord Of War – that movie points this out.
Excellent article! The sale of weapons and arms are legal as long as you are lawfully registered and with the official documentations to act as a broker. The problem after 911 is that the US Arms Industry Dealers want to corner the market and control the monopoly so they can be the exclusive providers and not other independent brokers. The problem develops when these brokers are going broke and then decide to sell to any Mercenaries and oppositional governments! Interestingly, the declarations made in this article by Peter Stone are super accurate, yet they never air on the US Media. This industry will always continue to expand with profitable capital. Keep up the good work!