United Nations Report on Firearms Regulation

Presented in this paper is a summary of the report on firearms regulation of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

There have been several recent international initiatives to focus attention on the current situation regarding small arms. Some have focused on military-style weapons and others on civilian-owned firearms. The United Nations Panel of Experts on Small Arms, which is addressing the former, will release its report this autumn. The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, also a United Nations body, has just released its first report on civilian-owned firearms.

While each approaches the issue from a different angle, both are concerned with the same issue: the growing and often seemingly uncontrolled prevalence of firearms in modern society. Be they assault weapons used for fomenting political unrest or handguns carried for personal protection, there has been an increase in the visibility of these weapons. This rise has in part prompted the two initiatives. Each tries in some way to gain further insight into the issue and put forward recommendations for action. Presented below is a summary of the report on firearms regulation of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The first part of this paper will review the findings of the report regarding firearms regulation. The second will discuss information provided on the trafficking and smuggling of firearms, while the third will review the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission. The final section will suggest policy options for South Africa based on the information presented in the report.  

Author

Sarah Meek, Towards Collaborative Peace Project, Institute for Security Studied