Section 1: In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires–

“ammunition” includes any device destined to be shot or projected through the means of firearms, cartridges, projectiles and missiles for light weapons, mobile containers with missiles or projectiles for anti-aircraft or anti-tank single action systems; “brokering” means any intermediary activity between any manufacturer, supplier or distributor of small arms and light weapons and any buyer or user including the provision of financial support and the transportation of small arms and light weapons; “ECOWAS” means the Economic Community of West African States comprising Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the ECOWAS Treaty; “ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons” means the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and Other Related Materials, ratified by the Parliament of Sierra Leone in June, 2007; “ECOWAS Commission” means the secretariat of ECOWAS; “light weapon” includes any portable arms designed to be used by several persons working together in a team, heavy machine guns, portable grenade launchers; mobile or mounted, portable anti-aircraft cannons, portable anti-tank cannons, non-recoil guns, portable anti-tank missile launchers or rocket launchers, portable anti-aircraft missile launchers, mortars with a calibre of less than 100 millimetres; “illicit” means anything done in violation of this Act and the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons; “marking” means inscriptions permitting the identification of arms covered by this Act and the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons; “National Small Arms and Light Weapons Register” means the National Small Arms and Light Weapons Register referred to in section 3; “other related materials” means all components, parts or spare parts for small arms or light weapons or ammunition necessary for its functioning or any chemical substance serving as active material used as propelling or explosive agent; “Registrar” means the Registrar of Small Arms and Light Weapons referred to in section 3; “small arm” includes any arm used by one person, firearms and other destructive arms or devices such as an exploding bomb, an incendiary bomb or a gas bomb, a grenade, a rocket launcher, a missile, a missile system or landmine, revolvers and pistols with automatic loading, rifles and carbines, machine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns; “small arm and light weapon” include ammunition and other related materials; “tracing” means the systematic monitoring of the movements of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition and other related materials, from the manufacturer until the end user to detect illicit manufacture and trading; Interpretation “Minister” means the Minister responsible for internal affairs; “transfer” includes import, export, transit, transshipment and transport or any other movement whatsoever of small arm or light weapon, ammunition and other related materials from, to and or through Sierra Leone. PART II –THE REGISTRAR OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS