SAS WIRe

The Small Arms Survey is a global centre of excellence whose mandate is to generate impartial, evidence-based, and policy-relevant knowledge on all aspects of small arms and armed violence. It is the principal international source of expertise, information, and analysis on small arms and armed violence issues, and acts as a resource for governments, policymakers, researchers, and civil society. It is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a project of the Graduate Institute of Inter- national and Development Studies.
Accurately documenting and identifying weapons and ammunition is paramount to telling a story.

Accurately documenting and identifying weapons and ammunition is paramount to telling a story. Nonetheless, it can be a challenging task. The Weapons Identification and Reporting App is specifically designed to help practitioners, researchers, and journalists to accurately report on small arms, light weapons, and ammunition that they come across in the course of their work. The app guides users to take photos of materiel in a way that will facilitate the identification process by ensuring that the relevant information is collected (including markings and distinctive physical features), offers secure storage space for photos taken or received by users, and allows for geotagging these pictures. Once the information is entered into the app, the user can choose to send a simple request to Small Arms Survey experts who can provide timely identification of the weapon and/or ammunition. The user can also choose to simply use the app as a way to organize their files and retrieve them later. If you have any questions or suggestions for improvements, please get in touch through the "Send Feedback" link in the app settings.