The World Forum on The Future of Sport Shooting Activities

WFSA News and Information



January 2006

January 28, 2006

South African gun licence extension

The Pretoria News has published an article saying that the tremendous backlog of firearm owner licensing in South Africa is now to be handled by an extension of existing licences, up until the year 2009. This follows considerable dissatisfaction with the recently enacted laws of the 2000 Firearms Control Act.

Gun owner organizations have been making vigorous representations for some time, pointing out the difficulty of compliance. Now, Trevor Bloem, speaking for the Department of Safety and Security, said that agreement has been reached between the various authorities to the effect that the current licences are to remain in force until June 30th, 2009. The incoming system proved incapable of processing the flow of applications for licence renewals.

Iol News

January 12, 2005

Swiss recommendation to reject gun registration

According to Swissinfo.com, the Swiss government has made a recommendation against registering all guns. Switzerland agreed to sign the Schengen Accord of the European Union in June, 2005. Now, the cabinet has claimed that the costs would outweigh any perceived benefits. This is not surprising considering the very extensive reporting of the continuing difficulties experienced by Canada's new firearm registry, which have turned into an election issue in that country.

The law, if accepted by the Swiss Parliament, will bring the country into line with the Schengen Accord. For more details, see the May 13, 2005 entry under Recent News on this website.

The distinction between retail and private gun purchases will no longer apply, and both will need to be reported to a regional office. As matters now stand, only purchases from a shop need to be reported. However, gun collectors, hunters and target shooters will not need to provide a reason for purchase and individual registration of firearms will not be required.

The Schengen Accord is fundamentally designed to offer minimal standards for the acquisition of firearms, and it does away with border controls between signatory states.

The new guidelines are flexible enough to give Switzerland exemption for its extensive militia, in which able-bodied men are able to take their state-issued military arms home, and to keep them after their service is completed.

The changes will also not affect the longstanding Swiss laws regarding hunting seasons, the issue of hunting permits, and shooting matches, which are extremely frequent and widespread throughout the land.

In 2005, Swissinfo.com reported that of 75 million cartridges fired in Switzerland in 2003, 31 were used in crimes that involved firearms.


January 7, 2006

Australian call for more deer hunters

The government of Tasmania, the island state at the south of the Australian continent, has implemented a ban on the deadly poison sodium monofluoroacetate in all state forests, beginning on January 1 of this year. The poison causes a painful death involving respiratory distress, convulsions and cardiac failure, and is also harmful to humans. The Humane Society International said that this poison, marketed under numerous names, including 1080, "has been evaluated as a chemical warfare agent by the military".

With the present bans likely to extend beyond just state forests within the state, there comes some discussion about management of the deer herds, and also the need to control the numbers of wallabies and possums. The Tasmanian Deer Advisory Committee (TDAC) has called for the recruitment of more hunters, who in the past have formed partnerships with property owners and combined forces to manage the carrying capacity of the land efficiently. Logbooks and other management techniques used by the hunters allow population trends in both quarry and non-target species to be observed and the result is better health and viability in all species. Property owners receive the benefits of hundreds of man-hours of wildlife management in return for hunting of game species.

One property alone had excess wallabies and possums removed annually, allowing feed for a fully manageable deer herd in addition to 4,000 sheep equivalents.

Deer may be especially problematic around irrigated pasture and crops.

There are currently not enough hunters available to manage the known deer numbers, and the TDAC is advising farmers to see working partnerships with hunters as a long-term tool for successful management. This includes the need to invite younger people into the activities and train them.


January 7, 2006

Liberian gun collection scheme

The Monrovia Analyst has published an article describing a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) preparing to commence the Community Arms Collection for Development (CACD) in Liberia. The launch is set for January 10th, 2006, and will involve different regions.

The UNDP Small Arms Control Program encourages people in local communities to report hidden small arms, in exchange for funds for development. The Program has also recently finished a two-day workshop held for the Technical Working Group (TWG) on the Proposed National Commission on Small Arms and the Liberia Action Network on Small Arms (LANSA). This workshop, according to a press release, involved no fewer than 58 non-governmental organizations, and representatives from governmental ministries including Commerce and Planning, Economic Affairs, Finance, Information and Justice.


January 7, 2006

Increase in women hunters in the US

The Economist has run an article noting the increase in the number of women in the United States who are actively involved in hunting.

The article cites the National Shooting Sports Foundation as having concluded that 2.4 million women hunted in 2004, compared with only 2 million in 1997. Another survey also is cited, this time from the National Turkey Federation, saying that 95% of women approve of women who go hunting.

The article mentions a few of the many programs for women involving safety with guns, and in general teaching women to shoot. These exist in many states, and the article mentions two that are based in Arizona, where families are not only taught to hunt but are then taught to cook the small game they bring to bag.

In addition to those women who hunt, there is also steadily increasing interest in handgun competition and training, and the article's author notes her own enjoyment in trying this herself in research for the article.

The Economist.


January 6, 2006

Calls for arms transfer treaty

Governments have been urged to begin negotiations on an international Arms Trade Treaty this year by the Control Arms Campaign, as the UN launched the next step in its program of reviewing small arms matters. The Control Arms Campaign has released reviews about the perceived impact of arms transfers to Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.

Barbara Stocking, the Director of Oxfam, released a statement saying the world either continues "to ignore the massive human cost of arms proliferation or it finally acts to control the arms trade". These three countries, she said, have been "flooded with weapons", and the ineffective arms controls have undermined peacekeeping efforts. Her statement said governments are free to sell arms to countries with long histories of human rights violations.

The Control arms Campaign is calling on all UN member states to accept the need for a set of global principles to govern arms sales.


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