Fact sheets

Firearms      (Acrobat files)

INTERPOL has three major initiatives relating to conventional weapons (firearms and explosives):

• the Orange Notice,
• the INTERPOL Weapons Electronic Tracing System (IWeTS) and
• the INTERPOL Firearms Reference Table (IFRT).

The Orange Notice provides a warning about weapons when there is reason to believe that it will help law enforcement and security officials identify a threat they might not normally detect.  It relates to objects, not individuals who could present threats.

Orange Notices are available to law enforcement agencies and, in most cases, security officials at approved international organizations. They generally involve firearms and improvised explosive devices, which are designed to disguise their threat potential.

An Orange notice may also be used to provide law enforcement and security officials with critical information about radiological, chemical and biological threats.  More than 40 Orange Notices have been issued by INTERPOL through I-24/7.