MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union

MISSING PIECES
that may be owned. In conjunction with a clampdown on illegally held
guns, the Act is regarded as having helped cut gun-related deaths.
MOVING FROM RIGHTS TO RESPONSIBILITY:
THE EXAMPLE OF AUSTRALIA
Prior to 1996, all eight Australian states licensed gun owners, but only five
actually registered all guns. The murder of 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania
in April 1996 was the catalyst for improved national arms control.
Within weeks, prompted by public and media pressure, all state and territory
governments committed to pass uniform laws including:
• registration of all firearms;
• stronger licensing provisions, including proof of genuine reason to own
any gun; uniform screening, including a five-year prohibition on owning
firearms for anyone convicted of intimate partner or family violence
or subject to a restraining order; a safety course requirement; a
minimum age of 18; a 28-day waiting period on each purchase; and strict
storage guidelines;
• a ban on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns;
• improved controls on the trading of firearms, including the requirement
of a separate permit for each gun; and
• a ban on private and mail order sales of small arms. 67
The new laws were phased in between mid-1996 and mid-1998, and a
one-time tax levy funded the government’s buy-back of newly banned
guns from their owners. The law resulted in the world’s largest weapons
collection and destruction exercise to date, with 700,000 guns taken out
of circulation. 68
TRANSITIONING FROM WAR AND VIOLENT CONFLICT
“. . .we urge the international community present here to support States
emerging from conflicts . . . in their search of solutions for the disarmament
of their civilian population . . .”
—Angolan statement at the UN Review Conference, 27 June 2006
Traditionally, in negotiating peace, the disarmament focus is on the demobilisation
and reintegration of combatants. Experience in several postconflict
settings, however, points to the importance of also dealing with
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