Wide availability of small arms has been shown to be an important factor in the levels of armed violence and insecurity in many contexts, including fragile and conflict-affected states and also in relatively strong states. However, it is only one factor in a complex process, and its impact depends greatly on wider political and security governance arrangements, including informal and societal controls as well as formal state and international regulations, controls and programmes. This paper identifies the contexts in which otherwise relatively strong and resilient states accommodate threats and uses of armed violence, and then critically examines (a) the implications for assessing state's resilience and (b) the challenges when governments seek to lower or revise previously tolerated thresholds of armed violence. The implications for 'state-building' and 'pathways out of fragility' are then explored with reference to case studies from Africa, South East Asia, South East Europe and the Americas.
