WFSA Current News - February 2002

February 26, 2002

Pressures for Tracing Measures on Guns
        Numerous groups are discussing their vision of how and why firearms ought to have traceable marks placed on them at manufacture.
         The WFSA works with the legitimate firearms industry through the mechanism of its Manufacturers Advisory Group (MAG). Many meetings have taken place at various international levels, with a view to informing the international community about the structure and function of the legitimate arms trade.
        The Chairman of MAG, Mr Ted Rowe, has been cautious about recent statements from people as diverse as Fund for Peace Advocacy Director Loretta Bondi, and the Eminent Persons Group (EPG). The latter is composed of various people drawn from diplomatic, political and other kinds of public life, and takes an interest in the small arms question. The EPG says it is calling for processes by which producers of arms, including countries, voluntarily mark their firearms, to allow tracing and to assist in the prevention of illegal transfer.
        The WFSA has found that the commercial firearms industry in general is sympathetic to these perceived international needs. As lawful gun owners everywhere are aware, it is customary and longstanding practice for sporting firearms to be well marked with serial numbers and other information relating to manufacture.
        Ted Rowe said: "We have come up with definitions, come up with marking requirements, come up with tracing requirements". These have been "well-received by various quarters within the United Nations."
        There is considerable misunderstanding about the role of the legitimate commercial manufacturing industry, which is already heavily regulated by import and export requirements across the globe. It is perhaps temptingly easy for broad arms of government to call for further controls on law-abiding manufacturers on the basis of misapprehension about what actually takes place with their products. Said Mr Rowe: "We're carrying forward, not changing any position but increasing our membership – that is, the number of manufacturers."
        Various international groups will be pushing for binding international treaties which will apply to small arms. Meetings will continue up until the next UN small arms conference, in 2006. The WFSA through MAG will continue assisting manufacturers to have their voice heard.
  

February 19, 2002

Gun ban idea rejected in Brazil
            Brazil has a population of 170 million, and roughly 80,000 homicides per year. In 2001, in Sao Paulo alone, there were 267 cases of abduction. Gang warfare, executions of public figures, hand grenade attacks and riots in the prison system have become routine events. The public, according to a Reuters report, is calling for drastic overhaul of the country’s crime-fighting systems.
            A special commission has been put into place with a brief to tackle the crime rate. There are an estimated 20 million handguns in the country, and the report suggests that attempts to introduce formal controls on firearms have been resisted. The President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, is reported to have urged two measures in particular, the unifying of police forces and increased anti-gun legislation.
        The report also singles out the head of the new crime commission, Senator Iris Rezende, as saying he rejects the idea of a formal ban on handguns.

  February 15, 2002

Independent Gun Researcher Honoured
            Canada’s Simon Fraser University conferred an award on Professor Gary Mauser for his research on firearm legislation. The presentation was made in October, 2001, but it is interesting to see that as late as today news of the award is still being circulated, in this case by an alert from the British Canadian Wildlife Federation.
            A Professor in the Faculty of Business Administration and a Research Fellow in the Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Mauser has published many papers which have cast light on the ineffectiveness of gun laws in reducing crime. He has also given testimony before Canadian Parliamentary and Senate Committees.
            In this award, the Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy, acknowledgement is made that the research was carried out without necessarily being bound by perceived wisdom in the area. Simon Fraser University prides itself on maintaining an environment where research is not hampered by concerns about its being controversial. Mauser’s conclusions have led him to the view that the Canadian push towards gun registration will not be successful in its stated aims, and he has said so fearlessly.
            A summary of some of the Mauser work on the subject can be seen at  http://www.sfu.ca/mediapr/sfnews/2001/Nov15/mauser.html .