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These crimes were common phenomena in the country and in the Balkans (especially in the Western Balkans) when a deficit of security and citizen protection emerged in the post-communist era. They were related to the first activities of organized crime at the beginning of the transition period, when law enforcement bodies were weak and “the street” was controlled to a large extent by organized crime groups. In the Western Balkans after the falling apart of the Yugoslav Federation the numerous ethnic conflicts led to the wide spreading of weapons and boom of organized crime. These conditions were favorable for the occurrence of negative trends in the Balkan countries anyway characterized by long traditions in possessing and using fire arms to guarantee personal and family safety. These trends were the focus of CSD’s study entitled The Rifle has the Devil Inside, Gun Culture in South East Europe. It studies cultural believes and practices which influence the possession and use of arms in Southeast Europe and the impact of these factors upon small arms control. Another publication on this topic is Small Arms and Light Weapons in Bulgaria which sums up the main findings of the research. It was done in 2004 by CSD and the British non-governmental organization Saferworld and focused on the proliferation of weapons in the country, the impact it has upon communities and the country as a whole, public attitudes and the capacity of state institutions to exert control over the proliferation and illegal use of these mass weapons. The situation of gun-crime is also monitored by the annual National Crime Survey.
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