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December 2007 Latest News

December 24, 2007

Hunting proposal for Cambodia

A Spanish company, NSOK Safaris, has put a proposal to the Cambodian authorities to convert a quarter-million acres of jungle 200 miles from Phnom Penh into an organized hunting facility. The Deputy Director of the Wildlife Protection Office of Cambodia's Agriculture Ministry, Dany Chheang, called the proposal an opportunity for the diversification of tourism, and described the expectation of special-purpose accommodation built on-site to house the clientele.

Cambodia relies heavily on tourism to gather foreign currency. The area proposed has some thirty possible quarry species such as wild boar in good supply and suitable for hunting. There are tigers in Cambodia, but their hunting would not be permitted.



December 20, 2007

Japanese calls for increased gun controls

A multiple shooting murder took place in Sasebo, in the Nagasaki Prefecture, on December 14. It had been preceded by another, single murder, earlier in December, in Tsuno, in the Kochi Prefecture, where a man killed his neighbour with a shotgun.

The conditions for lawful gun ownership in Japan are among the most restrictive anywhere in the world. There are only about three hundred thousand firearms in the hands of licensed owners in the whole of the nation of Japan, and under present laws, the application for a longarm licence through the safety prefecture is already highly involved. The applicant must secure a doctor's certificate to show sound mental health, provide a report about domestic arrangements with family members in order to show no gangster affiliations, and pass through five stages of scrutiny. These involve a lecture, written examination, shooting training, and comprehensive police checks, including into the applicant's degree of harmony in relations with neighbours.

Before at least one of the recent shooting incidents, calls of concern from neighbours to authorities about the behaviour of the perpetrator were not acted upon.

The Japan Times laments that someone could so much as possess four guns under licence in Japan, as though the number of guns held by one individual can somehow affect the severity or likelihood of a crime that person goes on to commit.

The coverage notes that until November there had been 54 shooting-related incidents, in 13% of which sporting arms had been used. This can mean only that in 87% of such, it was gang- and criminal-related firearms involved, and these fall outside the control of law in any case. This most recent debate in Japan, as is so often the case, ignores any possible consideration of total murder rates going unaffected by increased regulations about guns.

Japan Times



December 1, 2007

European Parliament requires tighter gun laws

The European Commission’s wish to tighten firearms laws has been endorsed by the European Parliament in Brussels with 588 votes in favor, 14 against and 11 abstentions.

The changes are sweeping, and include detailed record-keeping and in general raising of the minimum age for owning a gun. Firearms marking is to be required, incorporating the stamping on each individual arm of the name of the manufacturer, place of fabrication, serial number and calibre. Also, the names and addresses of both the buyer and the seller are to be recorded in a computerized data system and kept for twenty years. Historical arms collections are to be exempt.

The changes are said to be bringing laws into accord across the whole 27 nations in the Union. However, those who already have tighter gun restrictions than those now mooted will be allowed to keep them. The changes have been worked on for about eighteen months, but it is acknowledged that the recent school shooting in Finland has led to an acceleration of the process. Formal ratification will be required from each of the 27 member states.