Security experts have raised concerns about illegal possession of weapons by private individuals in Ghana. According to them, there were more guns in civilian hands than in the possession of the State. Quoting from a research conducted by a security expert, Dr. Emmanuel Aning, the Heritage newspaper reported on Wednesday that some 400,000 small arms and light weapons were in illegal hands. The report said between 500,000 and 700,000 individuals in Ghana had firearms. However Joy News also established that the situation was worse than the figures depicted. It was found out that at least 70 percent of the weapons were locally manufactured in spite of an existing ban on domestic production. The security experts were even more worried about the situation in the Upper West Region where they said a lot of guns had come in from neighbouring countries. According to them, the guns were normally exchanged for motorbikes from the local people and the trend was gaining currency, rather than receding.