MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union
MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union
MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union
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<strong>MISSING</strong> <strong>PIECES</strong><br />
The Nairobi and SADC Protocols are the most advanced and specific<br />
on the regulation of guns in the hands of civilians. One of the objectives<br />
of the Nairobi Protocol is to ‘encourage accountability, law enforcement<br />
and efficient control and management of small arms held by States Parties<br />
and civilians’. Each of the 11 East African nations is responsible for incorporating<br />
into their national law:<br />
• prohibition of unrestricted civilian possession of small arms;<br />
• total prohibition of civilian possession and use of all light weapons and<br />
automatic rifles, semi-automatic rifles, and machine guns;<br />
• regulation and centralised registration of all civilian-owned small arms<br />
in their territories;<br />
• provisions for effective storage and use of civilian-held firearms, including<br />
competency testing of prospective owners;<br />
• monitoring and auditing of licences held and restriction of the number<br />
of guns that may be owned by individuals;<br />
• prohibitions on pawning or pledging of small arms; and<br />
• registration to ensure accountability and effective control of all guns<br />
owned by private security companies.<br />
In addition, the signatories agree to encourage the surrender of illegal<br />
guns by civilians and to develop local, national, and regional public education<br />
programmes aimed at encouraging responsible ownership and management<br />
of guns.<br />
BOX 4 HARMONISATION OF NATIONAL FIREARMS LEGISLATION:<br />
LESSONS FROM THE GREAT LAKES REGION AND HORN OF AFRICA<br />
By Francis Sang, Executive Secretary of the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA)<br />
In April 2004, states in the Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa (Burundi,<br />
DRC, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Somalia,<br />
Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) signed the Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention,<br />
Control and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons. The Nairobi<br />
Protocol is a detailed legally-binding regional agreement, which entered<br />
into force in May 2006, and commits states to establishing controls across a<br />
range of areas including national firearms legislation, transfer controls,<br />
manufacturing, marking and tracing, brokering, and enforcement of arms<br />
embargoes.<br />
In June 2005, the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA) was established<br />
to co-ordinate action by member states. One of RECSA’s first tasks was to<br />
coordinate the development of Best Practice Guidelines to inform the implementation<br />
of the Protocol through harmonisation of small arms legislation<br />
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