the.com/gunrunner

Smuggles firearms across borders where paperwork would only slow down the murder.

means Someone who illegally smuggles guns and ammunition, typically across borders or to embargoed buyers.

from A straightforward compound of 'gun' plus 'runner' — 'runner' in the old sense of someone who moves contraband past authorities, the same sense that gave English 'rumrunner' and 'bootlegger'-adjacent smuggling terms during periods of prohibition and arms embargoes. The word rides on a long tradition of '-runner' terms for people who dodge blockades and customs to deliver forbidden goods.

etymology
from running rum, swapped liquor for lead
golden era
Cold War proxy wars made it a growth industry
modus operandi
fake end-user certificates make illegal sales look legal
famous case
Viktor Bout inspired the movie Lord of War
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