Many countries have implemented voluntary programs encouraging citizens to surrender weapons in exchange for cash, household goods or other benefits to individuals. Nevertheless it is arguably more necessary, given that civilians constitute the overwhelming majority not only of gun owners, but also of the victims and perpetrators of gun violence. Disarming civilian populations is more difficult than disarming governments. Reducing the existing civilian stockpile. The consistent advice is that governments should systematically identify and destroy their surplus stock. A UN Group of Governmental Experts on surplus ammunition was established by the General Assembly in late 2007, and disposal of surplus weapons was one of the priority topics at the Third Biennial Meeting of States on Small Arms and Light Weapons in 2008. The grave threat posed by surplus guns and ammunition has been formally recognized by the UN small arms process. In addition to the physical danger of explosions, surplus stocks act as a magnet for traffickers, insurgents and criminals, often with tragic results. This represents not only a large waste of resources (in buying the guns, recording them, storing, maintaining and guarding them), but also a serious hazard to military and civilian populations living near accumulations of surplus weapons. Governments may consider large armouries to be necessary for national defence, but they overestimate their need: according to the Small Arms Survey, 38 per cent of military small arms in government arsenals are surplus to requirements. With large amounts of weaponry concentrated in a few locations, a focus on the State stockpile is the quickest way to make a dent in the sheer number of guns on the planet. The best place to start is with government arsenals, which by nature are easier to identify and affect than the diffuse civilian holdings. How can we reduce this enormous pool of weapons? Guns on earth outnumber cars by about 40 per cent. Less than 25 per cent of these are in the possession of armies, police or other government agencies the remaining three-quarters are in the hands of civilians. The existing global small arms stockpile is huge - at least 875 million guns, according to the Small Arms Survey in Geneva. Reducing the motivation for acquiring guns (demand) Closing the gates between the legal and illegal marketsĤ. Practical steps toward reducing the availability and misuse of small arms can be classed under four headings:ģ. Nonetheless, the high school massacres in the US, the armed gangs in Brazil or the systematic sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo all share a common denominator: the availability of guns (or small arms, as they are known in UN circles). A comprehensive approach, reflecting the multi-faceted nature of the problem, is needed to bring down the grim toll of global death and injury. The circumstances of gun violence vary so enormously, it would be simplistic to suggest a single solution. Yet the media and popular perception tend to suggest that gun violence is simply an unavoidable consequence of human cruelty or deprivation, rather than a public health problem which can be prevented or at least reduced. If the death, injury and disability resulting from small arms were categorized as a disease, it would qualify as an epidemic. Close the gates between the legal and illegal marketsĪ thousand people die each day from gunshot wounds, and three times as many are left with severe injuries.
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