MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union

MISSING PIECES
aged greater national arms control. Most significantly, in May 1997, 33
countries sponsored a resolution in the UN Commission on Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice that emphasised the importance of state
responsibility for effective regulation of civilian possession of small arms,
including licensing owners, record keeping for guns, safe storage requirements,
and appropriate penalties for illegal possession. 76 This effort culminated
in 2001 in the adoption of a protocol on small arms trafficking—
the Firearms Protocol.
The Firearms Protocol, which entered into force in mid-2005, criminalises
illicit trafficking, and necessitates that guns be marked at the point
of manufacture, import, and transfer from government into private hands.
States are also required to consider establishing a system of regulating arms
brokering. In April 2005, the 40 th ratification triggered the process of the
Protocol entering into force. 77 It is the first legally-binding international
agreement on small arms control. (See Annex 3)
The discrepancy between progress at the national level and debates on
this issue in the UN process on small arms is significant. Since 2001 there
have been two ‘Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation
of the PoA’ (BMS’, held in July 2003 and July 2005). These reporting meetings
threw this in to strong relief, with some 70% of governments voluntarily
reporting on their national firearms legislation. 78
RELEVANCE TO THE UN PROGRAMME OF ACTION
An early draft of the PoA explicitly called on states to regulate civilian possession
and use of arms in order to curb illicit gun trafficking. 79 These references
were dropped in the final version of the consensus document at the insistence
of the US, in collaboration with China and Cuba. 80 However, while
direct reference to national arms regulation was dropped, the PoA calls on
all participating states to implement legislative or other measures required
to criminalise ‘the illegal manufacture, possession [emphasis added], stockpiling
and trade’ in small arms. 81 The PoA also calls on states to adopt ‘all
the necessary measures to prevent the . . . possession of any unmarked or
inadequately marked SALW’ 82 , as well ‘to identify . . . groups and individuals
engaged in the illegal trade, stockpiling, transfer, possession . . . and take
action under appropriate national law . . .’ 83 Additionally, states are exhorted
to ensure that comprehensive and accurate records are kept for as long as
possible on the manufacture, holding [emphasis added] and transfer of SALW
within their jurisdiction. These records should be organised and maintained in
such a way as to ensure that accurate information can be promptly retrieved
and collated by competent national authorities. 84
In practice, this commitment requires the establishment of a small arms
registration system. 85
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