I very much suspect that there are a lot of unlicensed guns still around out there.
Very likely buried. Why? Because of the civil war, and because I have never read anything remotely convincing that says otherwise.

From 1993
Gun fever grips capital

"
5 Nov, 1993 Moeun Chhean Nariddh and Mang Channo


Up to 300 Phnom Penh residents apply each week to register guns at the Ministry of

National Security. On average, 100 applications are rejected.

With the exception of police and military, some 3,809 guns, including 2,874 handguns,

have been licensed to date, according to Thiem Bun Seng, deputy head of the ministry's

gun and explosives control office.

Owners include government officials, ordinary citizens and private companies and

licenses are granted in two parts: for inside and outside the house.

Those allowed to take their weapons outside include heads of government departments

and their deputies, provincial governors and deputies and executives of large companies.

More than 450 unregistered guns were confiscated at police checkpoints in the capital

in the first nine months of this year, including 135 assault rifles and 30 hand grenades.

When the Ministery of National Security recently declared a weapons "amnesty",

only two guns were handed in.

"If we don't do someting, people will continue to use or hide their guns illegally,"

Bun Seng said, adding that he has found no registered weapons being used by criminals.

Applicants for a gun license must apply to district governors and then to the ministry,

which will also re-check backgrounds before licenses are issued. The procedure usually

takes one week.

Buying a gun is a relatively simple procedure. At the army market on Pochentong Blvd

dealers can provide a selection of weapons ranging from handguns to grenade-launchers.

Handguns hold the highest price because they are easy to conceal. Prices range according

to age and condition but a good quality automatic, such as an East German Luger,

sells for around $150. Soviet and Chinese pistols often cost between $150 and $250.

Assault rifles vary in price depanding on their country of origin. Czechoslovakian

AK-47s command the best prices because of their higher quality.

American-made M-16 rifles are currently very cheap with good condition models, dating

from the Vietnam War, fetching around $20.

Heavier equipment, like grenade launchers and machine-guns, are also readily available,

often at ridiculously low prices.

Opinion is divided on the wisedom of keeping a gun at home or out in the street.

"If you buy a gun you must ask yourself are you prepared to use it," said

Julian Camp, a veteran of the Vietnam War.

"I would advise the whole of Phnom Penh not to buy a gun," he said.

http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/gun ... ps-capital

Unlicensed guns? I guess that counts all the home-made rifles in the countryside?

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Barang chgout wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:38 am Unlicensed guns? I guess that counts all the home-made rifles in the countryside?

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That's true. They're saving the AKs till the shit hits the fan. All they can do is get them out every now and then in private and lick the barrels.

I nicked this link from the Viet thread. I thought it coukd do with more air play.
From 1998

Taiwan firm 'sorry' for Cambodia toxic dump

Environmentalists fear Asia's rich countries export waste to their poor neighbours

By John Gittings in Hong Kong
Thursday 31 December 1998 04.21 GMT

"The Taiwan company responsible for shipping a consignment of toxic waste to Cambodia has finally apologised, nearly two weeks after the incident triggered riots and a panic-stricken exodus from the port where the waste was dumped.
The giant Formosa Plastics Corporation said yesterday it was sorry for 'causing disturbance' to the Cambodian people. But it is still resisting pressure by the embarrassed Taiwan government to ship back the nearly 3,000 tons of mercury-laced waste.

Laboratory tests by foreign experts have given widely different readings for the mercury content, although all are above the safe minimum. Formosa said it would send a team to the port of Sihanoukville to take more samples.

Local news reports now suggest that the poisonous waste was spread more widely in Sihanoukville than originally thought. It was transported to a dump outside the city in 90 uncovered trucks working for at least four days. Many of the trucks, according to the Phnom Penh Post, were cleaned beside a large reservoir which supplies drinking water.

Local people are said to have used the waste for landfill and to have salvaged the plastic bags in which it was carried.

"Some used the plastic bags for their rice or in their homes"' reporters were told. "One man used the waste blocks as hearth stones on which to light his cooking fire."

Stories of waste being dumped secretly at sea and of 'secret dumps' at other locations fanned alarm. The local community held a public demonstration on December 19, during which a shipping agency office was sacked and one person died. Four more people died in a panic flight of nearly 50,000 Sihanoukville residents in the next three days.

A dock worker who unloaded the toxic waste ship has also died, with symptoms claimed to be those of mercury poisoning.


On Monday, Taiwanese officials said an analysis of samples taken by an environmental group showed the waste was more toxic than allowed by law, and they ordered Formosa Plastics to return the material to Taiwan.

The mercury emission level of the waste was 0.284 parts per million, compared to the safety standard of 0.2 ppm, according to the analysis. The level refers to the mercury that can be emitted from the waste when placed in a natural environment. Formosa Plastics questioned the analysis and decided to conduct its own sampling.

The Taiwanese press reported an analysis, made by a Japanese expert, showed the waste had a mercury content level as high as 4,000 parts per million and could be hazardous to humans.

The incident has added to environmentalists' concern that parts of Asia are becoming a dumping ground for toxic wastes - much of it generated by the more developed countries in the region.

The list includes banned pesticides, waste oils, heavy metals and medical waste. Cambodia and Indonesia are the worst affected. Other dangerous waste, such as lead-acid batteries, is sent from Western countries for recycling.

A report last year from the East-West Centre in Honolulu said it would cost millions of dollars just to research the extent of the problem. It said most Asian countries lacked zoning regulations. In China about 80 per cent of factories generating hazardous waste are in urban areas.

Popular anger in Sihanoukville is fuelled by suspicion that the imports of toxic waste have been eased by payments to corrupt officials. A plan to build a huge industrial incinerator in the city, approved in principle by the prime minister, HE, is now on hold.

John Bingham wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:35 pm

AlonzoPartriz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2017 6:55 am I very much suspect that there are a lot of unlicensed guns still around out there.
Very likely buried. Why? Because of the civil war, and because I have never read anything remotely convincing that says otherwise.

Well you couldn't have looked very hard. I have friends who worked on the very successful European Union's Assistance on Curbing Small Arms and Light Weapons. There is plenty of documentation out there, and the fact that gun crime is at a fraction of the levels it was in the mid-90s should be apparent to most.

http://www.eu-asac.org/

http://www.eu-asac.org/programme/weapon ... uction.php

Well, could have taken a more accademic tone, but thanks for the links, and hopefully future debate when I've had time to digest the material.
On a quick perusal i came across this:

Weapons Caches

The cache team collect all the weapons from the cache in order to make an inventory and sunsequently destroy the weapons.
After the cessation of hostilities in 1998, the Royal Government embarked on a successful programme to collect weapons back from the civil population and demobilized soldiers. However, much of the fighting and movement of armed forces during the civil war occurred in remote, forested areas of the country where large numbers of weapons are thought to remain.

The Khmer Rouge were experts at moving quickly and lightly through near- impenetrable areas and often buried significant quantities of weapons in specific areas to facilitate the swifter movement of guerrilla troops. Forces from other factions also buried weapons in order to prevent them falling into enemy hands or as a future insurance policy should peace not hold. Areas such as the Cardomom Mountains in the south west of Cambodia, the Damreks in the north and the huge forest areas surrounding previous Khmer Rouge strongholds or bases are where many weapons are considered to be hidden.

At the request of H.E. Sar Kheng, Deputy Prime Minister, Co-Minister of the Interior and Chairman of the National Commission for Reform and Management of the Weapons and Explosives in Cambodia, EU ASAC became actively involved in the search for and destruction of weapons found in caches throughout the country.

On 21 May 2003 a Project of Cooperation was signed by H.E. Em Sam An, Secretary of State, Ministry of Interior, Permanent Member of the National Commission for Reform and Management of the Weapons and Explosives in Cambodia and Mr. David de Beer, Project Manager of EU ASAC.

Weapon caches were reported to EU ASAC in seven provinces. All of these caches are in remote mountainous and forested areas and few were able to be reached. However in 2003 and 2004 a total of 624 weapons, 1,062 rounds of ammunition and 103 grenades were recovered by the EU ASAC weapons cache team. The weapons were later destroyed in Flames of Peace ceremonies

John Bingham wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2017 3:52 pm There are regular reports in the news about buried weapons caches being found. In nearly every case the weapons have decayed so much as to be useless.

I remember seeing reports finding bombs/ mortars etc , basically explosives, but i can't remember any caches of AKs with amo being found. That recent cache of high explosive shells found in Takmau for instance, was just dumped in tbe earth with no storage containers.

Btw, the old Soviet AK amo will mostly still work if stored properly. Burried in amo boxes or sealed tubs with sawdust etc.

NOTE: A general definition of modern ammunition is any ammunition produced with smokeless powder after the 1930s. So, those old Soviet-era 7.62x54R rounds are probably still good if they’re in a sealed container

http://concealednation.org/2015/05/does ... ke-a-look/

And as far as the AKs themselves are concerned, they seem to be fairly indestructible.
I remember an old quote from somewhere that said, the only things built to last nowadays are guns.

AK 47 Buried for 18 years dug up and shot - AK 47 RELIABILITY ...