WFSA Current News - August 2002

August 31, 2002

Albanian arms retained
             One of the facts about legislation directed at restricting guns is that a lot of the time, nobody knows how many guns exist in any given place. 
            Albania restricts firearms ownership and has a policy of registration. Albania’s Public Order Ministry estimates that more than a half million firearms and over 800 million rounds of ammunition disappeared through looting during times of unrest in that country in 1997. Through various means, including employment of up to 250 officers in national arms-collection projects, the government has gathered up many of these, but it is nevertheless estimated that over 200,000 remain unaccounted for in private hands. This is despite house searches and heavy penalties including long terms of imprisonment for possession of an unregistered gun.
             Associated Press released an article by Llazar Semini on August 31, headed "U.N. Arms Control Works in Albania". This was prompted by news of the UN Development Program, which has been paying money under amnesty for illegally owned guns. In three months, 270 firearms were handed over in exchange for cash and other concessions made to whole villages, such as improvements to water supplies. The program hopes to coax out more arms from civilians holding them. Eight areas in Albania have had two programs run in them over two years, and one of these has produced 270 guns. The cost has been US$3 million. Assuming a similar rate of success, one would expect the rest of the 200,000 illegal guns garnered in one spate of serious looting could be collected in roughly 46 years at a cost of perhaps US$140 million.
             It is worthy of comment that this article is actually headlined to the effect that it is a case of arms control working well.

August 30, 2002

The problem of trafficking
    Matthew Gutman in The Jerusalem Post today released a story describing arms-related shipments to Iran by Israelis. Avihai Weinstein had organized a licence for a load of rubber treads for personnel carriers to be sent to Thailand , but it is alleged they were to be illicitly rerouted to Iran through use of a ship of another nationality.
             Munitions such as anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles and spare parts for jets have not only a large strategic and monetary value, but also a political aspect. They are in effect a currency by which divergent groups, from rebels to embargoed governments, may curry favour with one another. Shelf companies and associates of manufacturers are able to create a complex shipping trail that is extremely difficult to follow.
             Dr Gerald Steinberg, an expert on the arms trade, described the way arms smugglers make tangled connections. The Iran Contra affair of 1985-86 is an example in that moneys collected by Israeli arms dealers were said eventually to have gone to Nicaraguan rebels. They were the result of deals that spanned continents.
             With friends in high places and political interests to serve, the arms trader is sometimes well protected, existing on the edge of legality. Small arms for military use inevitably constitute a part of the illicit trade, and it is for this reason that the legitimate firearm owner is sometimes caught in the legislative net.

August 28, 2002

Firearm industry – the anti-gun view
            The gun industry is seen very differently country by country. Wherever the traditions of hunting and target shooting are longest and most honoured, the legal industry is more likely to be seen in a benign light. This can be countered, however, where media treatment of it is negative, because it affects health-advocacy treatment of the issue. The Brady Center (formerly Handgun Control Inc.) from the USA rarely misses an opportunity to apply a negative to lawful gun owners.
            Now, the Brady Center has commented on a recent firearm industry report pointing to a downturn in handgun production numbers. The report, from Shooting Industry, says: "The hardest hit category within the industry, pistol production has dropped 54 percent from a high of 2,093,186 in 1993." The Brady Center commentary points to lower handgun sales in 2001, recognizes a peak after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and then points to a decline going into 2002.
            Mike Barnes, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, is reported as having said: “The gun industry took advantage of a (sic) understandably fearful public to try to sell more guns. Gun makers have never been concerned with public safety; they simply saw an opportunity to make more money.”
            It concerns the WFSA not so much that this is offensive, but more that this kind of untruth makes it harder for the industry to work openly with government towards solutions for problems.
            The public statements of the Brady Center do its credibility no good. The http://www.usnewswire.com report ends by attributing to Mr. Barnes the following: “As crime dropped throughout the 1990s -- thanks to measures like the Brady Law and the federal assault weapons ban -- fewer and fewer Americans see the need for guns in their lives." 
            This statement flies in the face of all independent research. A 103% increase in gun ownership overall) during the 25 year period 1973-97 coincided with a sharp decrease in murder, according to Don B. Kates & Daniel D. Polsby, in "Long Term Non-Relationship of Firearm Availability to Homicide", 4 HOMICIDE STUDIES (2000). It is available at http://www.donkates.com .

August 26, 2002

Respected American hunting magazine to continue
            American shooters and fishermen will be pleased to learn that Sports Afield is to continue in publication.
             Robert Petersen and Ludo Wurfbain are well known to those interested in the shooting press. The Petersen name has long been on a range of popular outdoor magazines, and Wurfbain is the Chief Executive Officer of Field Sports Publications, an affiliate of Safari Press, also familiar to lovers of outdoor literature.
             For its part, Sports Afield has been in print since 1887, giving it a grand tradition of stability in the world of hunting and fishing, as well as a history of awards. The name is now expected to continue in related media: a Sports Afield cable television series, radio network and newspaper syndicate.
             Editor-in-Chief Diana Rupp, formerly of Wing & Shot, Wildfowl and Gun Dog will be joined by Ludo Wurfbain as publisher, with Robert Petersen retaining an interest in the ancillary media. The first edition of the magazine is expected in January, 2003.

August 24, 2002

North Korean security meeting
            The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research is located in Geneva, Switzerland. UNIDIR has been involved in the small arms issue for several years.
             During August and, it is expected, on into the beginning of September, representatives from the North Korean government have been in residence there with the task of meeting with officials from other countries. The agenda involves matters relating to disarmament, and this includes small arms.

August 21, 2002

History re-enactment activity hindered by Canadian gun law 
            Some of the moves that are currently being made against gun ownership worldwide are extremely difficult to understand. While most have no demonstrably valid reasons to sustain them, some are even more unsupportable than others.
            The history enthusiasts who attend staged re-enactments must surely be among the most benign people in any community. Year by year and country by country there are well-known events staged commemorating important occasions. Seeing many such historical events involved guns, it is hardly surprising that the re-enactors take with them historical arms.
            The Washington Times reported that one such gathering, at Westfield Heritage Village near Toronto, will not be entertaining its usual party of American Civil War re-enactors this year. The non-residents are now expected to abide by the new Canadian laws, and pay $32 to register their historical firearms after first satisfying Customs regulations and applying for visitors’ permits.
            There are no known records of the number of Canadian banks successfully robbed by Civil War re-enactment aficionados carrying antiquated firearms, for the fairly obvious reason that they do not rob banks with their historical arms. The story is available on the anti-gun website Join Together Online at http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/summaries/reader/0%2C2061%2C553505%2C00.html and it is interesting to see that it is run under the title “Civil War Re-Enactors Refuse to Register Muskets”.

August 15, 2002

Another move against American gun manufacturers
            Reuters today reported that the Senate in California narrowly gave approval to a bill that could heavily influence lawful gun manufacture. The bill aims to remove the protection of a law passed in 1983.
             As recently as 2001, the Supreme Court of California upheld that law and ruled that gun makers are not liable for claims made against them as a result of misuse of their products by criminal activity.
             The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a U.S.-based member of the World Forum, pointed out that California remains a source of a continual stream of such bills. Designed to hinder lawful manufacture by frivolous claims of product liability, they will do nothing to reduce crime.

August 11, 2002

UK handgun ban to be reassessed
            Scotland on Sunday reported on August 11 that the blanket ban on handguns in the UK is to be re-examined by the government. Home Office sources indicated that the shooting groups have made a good case for the move, which has been broached by the Sports Minister, Richard Caborn.
            The World Forum was addressed by British MP Kate Hoey in Nuremberg in March, 2002, and Mrs. Hoey there described the extraordinary conditions under which British pistol shooters have had to operate since the British bans came into force. Competitors in the Manchester Games, she said, had been forced to travel out of England to practise. The British Shooting Sports Council, a member of the World Forum, said the restrictions on handguns are ineffective in preventing horrific incidents such as the multiple murder in Dunblane which preceded the gun bans. Better police practices were called for.  
            This story can be read at: http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/index.cfm?id=874132002

August 10, 2002

Australian police concerned about illegal handguns
            The Australian state of New South Wales has had a growing problem with illegal importation and use of handguns by criminals. The State Police Minister, Michael Costa, calls it a matter of national importance. A massive reduction of gun rights throughout Australia in 1996, including banning of all semi-automatic longarms, did not reduce crime rates.
             The Australian Crime Commission is a new body which will supersede the National Crime Authority. One of its first tasks, the Australian Broadcasting Commission said, will be to provide co-operative links between states and the Federal bodies such as Customs, so a task force can be formed to address the problem.
             The state of Victoria, according to its Police Minister, Andre Haermeyer, also has an increasing level of illegal handgun trouble of its own and is anxious to see the plan implemented.

August 9, 2002

Japan asks for further UN conference on illegal guns
            A report coming out of Switzerland on August 9 indicates that Japan has once again taken the lead on the small arms issue.
             The July, 2001 Program of Action from the UN required the illicit gun trade "in all its aspects" to be stamped out. Japan has now prepared a resolution to submit to the UN General Assembly in 2002, calling for a conference in 2003 to hasten the progress against illegal small arms worldwide. Japan will be calling on Columbia and South Africa for assistance in putting forward its resolution.
             The World Forum has already addressed matters relating to these moves, in particular the question of definition of weapons of war as opposed to lawful civilian firearms. The WFSA report can be seen at : http://www.wfsa.net/Leg%20Docs/LondonDefinitionReportV3.pdf
            Before the 2003 meeting, the Forum will be doing further work on this and other related subjects, such as the brokerage of guns worldwide, and the industry’s role in marking of firearms at the time of manufacture.

August 9, 2002

Public gun burnings
            Nairobi hosted a seminar about the problem of illegal guns in the African Great Lakes region. The Foreign Minister, Marsden Modoka, expressed his continuing concern at the circulation of arms, and he called for the implementation of existing agreements to reduce it. Ten regions were represented – Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The Minister admitted that arms are still being both smuggled and sold in the region.
             Some 10,000 firearms have been collected, and it was suggested that another batch of an equivalent number would soon be accumulated for destruction in a large public ceremony, previously scheduled but cancelled a number of times because President Moi has not been able to conduct the ceremony.
             Experts have been encouraged to continue meeting in Nairobi to seek out solutions to the illicit trade. The point was made that illegal trade in arms had fuelled both poverty and conflict.
             It is noteworthy that the public burning of firearms is somehow viewed as an essential part of the program.

August 8, 2002

African intentions to legislate against firearms
            With an announcement published by Reuters on August 8 it is clear that Africa continues to be the hub of much effort to further restrict gun ownership.
             Further to yesterday’s announcement from this same meeting, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda declared they would be renewing efforts to control small arms.
             The governments have already pledged to set up national offices with the aim of coordinating efforts to crack down on small arms in each country. NGOs have been very active in Africa and it is clear that efforts are being focused there. Richard Mugish ( from the NGO People with Disabilities Uganda) and Paul Eavis (Director of Safer World) are prominent in IANSA, the international anti-firearm NGO. IANSA has over three million US dollars in government grants alone to use in the pursuit of its agenda. National anti-gun offices may well be part of it. Unfortunately, there seems to be little effort to include the hunting and shooting community in these efforts.

August 8, 2002

New book on English gun laws
            Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm through Harvard University Press has released a second book: Guns and Violence – the English Experience.
             The book specifically avoids the superficial trap of comparing the existing crime rates from England with those of the modern United States. Instead it looks at the history of violent crime over several centuries, and tracks the way English murder rates have had their own existence totally independent of the country’s gun laws, weak or strong.
             The book traces the incremental nature of ever-tightening firearm laws, and shows the true nature of their origins as political.
             As the British individual became less well armed, the courts increased the vigour of their action against those who took the liberty of defending themselves. At this point, crime rates began their rapid rise to the present high levels. This work supports recent findings that legislating to diminish the lawful gun ownership of ordinary citizens does not in any way result in lower crime rates.
             To read a very good review of the book, go to: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59866,00.html

August 7, 2002

Embargo unsuccessful in preventing arms sales
            A number of countries in Africa are considering total gun bans.
            In Nairobi, capital of Kenya, a meeting at a conference on the trade in small arms was told of the widespread criminal misuse of firearms of all sorts, not only in ethnic clashes but in urban crime as well as cattle stealing. The meeting was called as a follow-up to a similar one held two years ago. The New Sudan Council of Churches called for solutions to the problem, and the Foreign Minister of Kenya, Marsden Madoka, commented on the need for individual governments to act on the basis of proposed initiatives.
            It was said at the conference that Somalia is a centre of the illegal arms trade. The UN in a report had previously accused various countries of illegally selling arms to Somalia, despite an embargo being placed on it regarding the traffic of small arms.

August 5, 2002

US federal organizations lose equipment
             US Department of Justice officials have been embarrassed by reported losses of firearms and laptop computers.
             In particular, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has been criticized for the failure to account for some 500 of its guns, and the FBI for losing track of more than 200. These figures stemmed from an audit period of 1999 to 2001, but further hundreds were also said to be missing from outside the time encompassed by the audit.
             Similarly, some hundreds of laptop computers, some containing sensitive material, were missing from a number of government departments.
             The deficiencies were announced in a report by Glenn A. Fine, the Inspector General of the Justice Department. It is the second report to present similar findings, the first of the two having been produced in early 2001. The departments concerned have been urged to upgrade their internal accounting processes.
             With regard to the firearms, a number of those identified as belonging to government have been used in or discovered at the scene of crimes.
             Some government functionaries have suggested that many of the missing items are the result of poor record-keeping, and guns may be, for instance, in the possession of other departments on loan.