 The World Forum on The Future of Sport Shooting ActivitiesWFSA News and Information2008 Latest NewsSeptember 26, 2008Arms collection in BosniaAn AFP report has said that a sum of three million Euro has been earmarked for the collection of arms remaining in Bosnia left behind after the war from the years 1992 to 1995. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has combined with the European Union in a project designed to take place over eighteen months. According to a UNDP spokesperson, the aim is "to decrease the threat posed to human security by the large and uncontrolled presence of small arms, light weapons and ammunition in the country. The plan is designed to collect surplus arms thought to number a hundred thousand, in addition to up to thirty thousand metric tons of ammunition. The article does not make clear how it could be expected that for each single piece of ordnance to be collected there is nearly a third of a ton of ammunition. Some ten per cent of the total funds for the exercise are to be provided by UNDP, and the remainder is to come from the European Union. September 23, 2008Yemen increases restrictions on gunsThe Yemen News Agency has reported that the country's Interior Minister, Mutahar Rashad al-Masri, has made a public statement avowing heavy penalties will be imposed against anyone selling firearms, either publicly or privately. According to the report, following the September 11 outrage in the US the Yemeni government introduced a so-called "buyback" program in a bid to reduce arms numbers among tribesmen. The current intention is to keep a full ban on sales in place until such time as a new system of licensing is introduced. This will be directed at the gun dealers whose names are to be collected and listed by officials of the Interior Ministry. September 15, 2008Anti-gun activity in AsiaThe Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI) has submitted a memorandum to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other government officials calling for increased controls on conventional small arms. A petition is also being circulated by the group. An article in kanglaonline.com ( ) has asserted: "One reason for the easy availability of weapons is the lack of regulation of the international arms trade." It goes on to say: "India is one of the most heavily armed countries in the world with around 40 million firearms circulating." The fact is that India is among the most firearm-restricting of nations and the lawful ownership of guns under the longstanding laws is for all practical purposes extremely difficult if not impossible for ordinary people. To call it amongst the "most heavily armed" of nations is misleading, to say the least. The restrictions currently applying are such that it is those prepared to act completely outside the law who gain access to military-style arms and there is no evidence that further restriction will change their approach.With meetings such as this one in New Delhi now taking place in a number of countries at the instigation of the lobby group the International Action Network on Small Arms, India has been urged to take a leading role in the coming United Nations First Committee on Disarmament and International Security Affairs to be held in October 2008 in New York. This is to be the venue for discussion of a binding Arms Trade Treaty. The official aim is to support the Arms Trade Treaty as a means of reducing criminal violence. The assumption is that adding rigour to the already highly-restricted international trade in sporting arms will further reduce availability of illegal arms. A similar article in Bangladesh's The New Nation ( ) describes a similar meeting in the form of a press conference held on September 14 by the Bangladesh Network on Small Arms. Using the same figures as usually put forward by IANSA (total known arms and ammunition production and total known arms in circulation), this meeting also alleged that reduction in criminal violence will automatically follow increased national, regional and international restrictions on the lawful firearms trade. No mention is made of how to control or even estimate the unlawful trade, which is often carried out on a large scale with the backing of governments that choose to operate outside lawful controls in any case.September 4, 2008African arms control conferenceA conference on arms control has been held in Nairobi at the behest of the Kenyan government. Pressure is mounting on the United Nations to produce a solution to the problem of unmonitored arms transfers throughout African troublespots. At the opening of the conference on September 3, the Assistant Foreign Minister of Kenya, Richard Onyonka, called for prompt ratification of a binding Arms Trade Treaty. African wars, he said, are estimated to have a total annual cost of US$18 billion through lost potential, a figure roughly matching the amount delivered to the continent in annual aid. The spokesperson for the UN's Conventional Arms Branch for Disarmament Affairs, Daniel Prins, pointed to the eight million arms said to be produced annually, adding to the total stock of firearms, of which some sixty per cent are known to be in civilian hands. As has long been the custom, the reporting gives no suggestion that any distinction has been made at the meeting between the arms manufactured by lawful sporting manufacturers, already under heavy regulation, and the ones produced and moved by large scale manufacturers such as rogue governments. Daniel Prins, however, according to voanews.com, did tell the meeting that over one hundred countries are now known to be producing arms. September 2, 2008Illegal gun manufacture in IndiaDespite extremely restrictive gun laws applying locally, once again an illegal manufacturing operation has been uncovered, this time in Bengal, India. Kolkata with its population of fifteen million offers opportunity like any other large city for criminals to encourage and patronize suppliers of illegal arms. The authorities accept that many such operations exist as yet undiscovered in the district. The Time of India reports that furnished with only the most basic of equipment, the illegal factory with its one-family workforce was producing guns from the cheapest and most rudimentary of materials, including bicycle parts. Police also believe there are other manufacturers nearby, probably once again family-based workers, who have long contributed some parts and labour. While higher-grade arms were evidently not made in this particular factory, reportedly because of the higher price of appropriate steels, it is common for them to be similarly produced in other, slightly higher-level illegal operations. Disclaimer: Posting of an article on the WFSA website does not constitute an endorsement by the WFSA of any view, policy position, statement or averred fact contained within the article. Articles are made available for informational purposes only. |
|
|
|
|
||