MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union

THEME 6
Social controls and
possibility of ostracism
Reducing ease of
access
Resource availability
Expected income,
wealth, grants, and
credits
• Engage communities in development and disarmament
schemes (e.g. UNDP Arms for Development
programme), rather than individuals in buy-backs, in
order to promote greater social cohesion and change
attitudes to gun possession
• Create public education programmes to change
attitudes to guns and gun violence and to generate
support for alternative behaviour (e.g. through the
establishment of gun-free zones)
• Crack down on open gun markets
• Subject firearms acquisition to owner licensing,
registration of weapons, stockpile management,
storing guns away from ammunition and other
controls
Possible responses
• Transform economies dependent on conflict goods
such as opium and diamonds, and encourage
alternative sustainable livelihoods
• Combat illicit trafficking in drugs
• Encourage the evolution and improvement of justice
and security sectors
UNDERSTANDING DEMAND AT THE PERSONAL OR COMMUNITY LEVEL
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to understanding the
factors driving demand for small arms at the personal and community
level. This work is revealing existing interventions by community-based
organisations and others aimed at reducing levels of violence by addressing
demand (although programmes are rarely labelled as such). Key drivers
include inadequate public safety and police corruption, lack of economic
opportunity for youth, grievances arising out of the abuse of fundamental
human rights, cultural attitudes towards guns, including the relationship
between masculinities and guns, inadequate or disrupted conflict management
practices, and the inadequacy or failure of reintegration programmes
for ex-combatants.
Key principles for contributing to violence reduction and lessening the
demand for guns include: 3
• initiatives aimed at strengthening self-worth, identity, and positive social
roles for individuals, especially children and youth—and particularly
boys, as guns are often culturally associated with particular and narrow
conceptions of masculinity;
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