Non-governmental organizations in Latin America: Firearms control and armed violence reduction

Abstract

This article describes the influence of Latin America’s Non-Governmental Organizations on the creation of international and national norms oriented to control the proliferation of firearms and the reduction of armed violence. The objective is, on the one hand, to make visible  the role of these organizations in promoting measures to mitigate the negative effects derived from firearms; and on the other, to show their discursive limits and action  barriers. To achieve this objective, the discourse analysis of more than 50 NGO members of the former Latin American Coalition against Armed Violence was used.