Kenya now has the largest stockpile of guns in East Africa, far surpassing its closest competitor, Tanzania, by roughly 325,000 firearms. In fact, Kenya has the largest stockpile of weapons in all of East Africa, a figure which has the potential for major consequences both economically and from a security standpoint.
A 2017 report details that there are roughly 750,000 privately owned firearms in Kenya, but only 8,136 of those firearms are registered. As the overwhelming majority of these guns are
These privately held guns far surpass the number held by Kenyan military and police. The military possesses roughly 46,000 guns, while the police forces hold about 52,000.
With private guns far outnumbering those carried by authorities, the government is working to scale back the number of privately held firearms to create additional gun safety.