 The World Forum on The Future of Sport Shooting ActivitiesWFSA News and InformationApril 2008 Latest NewsApril 22, 2008African arms marking plans proceedA workshop on the South Coast of Kenya has learned that 12 manual machines for the stamping of arms with a permanent mark have now been bought with funds supplied by the US government. With conference participants present from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, the meeting was told that firearms throughout Great Lakes Region, East Africa and the Horn of Africa are soon to be permanently marked with country codes, serial numbers and a code identifying the governmental force of their destination. The machines to accomplish this task are to be distributed to each member state. The conference participants recommended the use of the electronic version of the arms marking machines, which can mark 1,500 arms and simultaneously add the details to a database. The manual machines process only a third of that number daily. It was suggested at the conference that only the electronic machines would permit the amount of marking necessary to handle the volume and meet the end-of-year deadline, which also requires the establishment of a database listing each country's arms. The International Standards Organization has overseen the provision of unique codes given to each country. Under the Nairobi Protocol all members are expected to have marked their legally held arms by the end of 2008. The meeting was also told that civilians ought to be educated about the benefits of surrendering their firearms in order to hasten recovery from the effects of the civil strife which is very high in the region. April 12, 2008ECOWAS agreement moves to ratificationThe Economic Community of West African States has moved to ratify the Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their ammunition and related materials. According to Allafrica.com, a meeting of policy-makers chaired by the Liberian Action Network on Small Arms took place on April 4 in the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre in Monrovia and it is expected the process will be discharged by the National Legislature in Liberia. The chairman, Reverend Father Anthony Borwah, named the objectives of the convention as among other things the cessation of importation, exportation and manufacture of small arms, and increased efforts for the “control” of small arms and light weapons within the ECOWAS countries. This will most likely mean requirements for universal registration. The process also encourages the exchange of information between states. The deadline for the submission of the ratified document to the ECOWAS secretariat on Small Arms control is May, 2008. April 4, 2008Nairobi push for markingThe Kenyan Daily Nation has reported on another move to reduce proliferation of illegal arms. The Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali has spoken during a five-day regional workshop in Nairobi focusing on the marking of small arms. The Nairobi Protocol requires the earliest possible implementation of requirements for all member states to have their legally acquired firearms marked by the end of 2008. In attendance were participants from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The meeting was told about the importance of gaining information about routes sufficiently open to allow smuggling from countries where there is civil unrest, and the need to gather data on likely smugglers. Major General Hussein emphasized the need for all the countries involved to keep up their participation, on the grounds that any single failure will compromise not just that country but the region. The aim, he said, is to trace the path of arms from manufacturer to present owner. The makers of the world's sporting and hunting arms have traditionally always marked their products with identification, but it is not so with governments. April 1, 2008Mexican drive to gather up gunsA news report from EFE has described yet another attempt in Mexico City to give citizens money, food and electrical goods, including computers and mobile telephones, in exchange for firearms. It has turned into an annual event. The guns are placed in the hands of the Ministry of Defence, which decides what to do with them upon surrender. The belief is that this somehow reduces the numbers of guns in the hands of criminals. The report documented the willingness of one woman to give up a handgun because she was offered what she deemed to be sufficient money for it, but noted her refusal to hand over a second gun because it was not rated at a high enough value at the point of surrender. It also reported on the handing over of longarms that dated as far back as the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917, in one case in order to afford surgery for an ailing member of the family. Mexico has very stringent gun laws, and rising crime rates. No improvement in murder or suicide rates has ever been shown to follow arms amnesties anywhere in the world. Disclaimer: Posting of an article on the WFSA website does not constitute an endorsement by the WFSA of any view, policy position, statement or averred fact contained within the article. Articles are made available for informational purposes only. |
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