The World Forum on The Future of Sport Shooting Activities

WFSA News and Information



May 2006

May 30, 2006

Illegal arms in Bangladesh

Security and peace studies speakers have called for a crackdown on illegal arms in Bangladesh before the next elections. A report by the Bangladesh Development Partnership Center suggests there are sixteen illegal guns for every legal one held, with almost half a million arms in total circulation.

Ex-military personnel have suggested that the country is being used as an arms bazaar for South Asian militants and criminals. Major General (retired) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim has claimed that illegal arms are rented out for criminal purposes, and frequently used by teenagers. The unrest in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kashmir, India and Pakistan provide a backdrop for the increased numbers of arms in the region.

Gun running follows a large variety of criminal activity in the region, principally drug-related and involving smuggling, but also including prostitution, extortion and land-related offences.

Financial Express

Daily Star



May 15, 2006

Call for tighter gun laws in Belgium

An apparently random racially-motivated shooting in Belgium has sparked calls for further tightening of gun laws.

A black mother and a child in her care were murdered in the street in Antwerp on May 11, and a Turkish woman was critically injured. An 18-year-old Belgian man with an alleged history of right-wing Flemish sympathies has been arrested. A witness said he attacked without cause.

As is so often the case, these events have led to appeals for tightening of the gun laws, but this time according to Expatica News the Mayor of Antwerp has called not only for this but also for retrospectivity to surround their introduction.

Hunting and sporting longarms are soon to be restricted to those who display a licence for these activities. Mayor Patrick Janssens has suggested that there would be public benefit in backdating sporting longarm transfers in order to prevent any spike in sales before the introduction of the new laws.

It has become increasingly common for legislation against guns to be introduced in the heat of the moment soon after firearm-related murders, with the focus not on the perpetrator but on the implement.

Expatica News



May 5, 2006

Report pending on gun registry

A report by Canada's National Post has foreshadowed a critical report on the gun registry due for release in a few days by the Canadian Auditor General, Sheila Fraser.

According to the report, as a first step towards the complete elimination of the registry it is expected that fees will be refunded or waived, according to circumstances, and an amnesty will be put in place for those who fail to pay for licence renewal, or to register longarms. The responsibility for the maintenance of the register is also expected to shift to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and away from the public service.

The registry has been the focus of unending criticism and it was a pre-election promise of the newly-elected government that universal registration of longarms would be terminated.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=61509d9e-0a4b-4481-ae33-900da829b6b0&k=70914



May 1, 2006

Malaysian-made arms

Malaysia, according to The Bernama Daily, is expected to produce its first military firearms by next year, using local raw materials and technology.

The expertise has been provided by several groups, including the Standards Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia, the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology Science and the Technology Research Institute for Defence.

The brand name of the new company is Berapi. The factory will be set up to manufacture rifles, military and sporting pistols, and submachine guns. With an expected beginning output of 20,000 units per year, the arms are said to be intended chiefly for the local armed forces, and with some small export for the Organisation of Islamic Conference countries.

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