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 />
reason; and a security screening based on criminal records or history<br />
of violence, including intimate partner violence. Licences should also<br />
be required to acquire ammunition.<br />
• Prohibit civilian possession of military-style rifles, including semi-automatic<br />
firearms that can be converted to fully automatic fire and semi-automatic<br />
variants of military weapons. This measure has been effectively implemented<br />
in countries such as Canada and Cambodia, and in 2004, East<br />
African governments signed the Nairobi Protocol, which binds State<br />
Parties to ‘the total prohibition of the civilian possession and use of all<br />
light weapons and automatic and semi-automatic rifles and machine<br />
guns’.<br />
• Ensure that national measures are harmonised with other efforts to prevent<br />
violence against women. Women face particular risks from gun<br />
violence in their homes at the hands of their intimate partners, and<br />
access to guns is a major risk factor for femicide. National regimes should<br />
include specific clauses that prohibit access to guns if the person seeking<br />
to own a gun has a history of violence, particularly against intimate<br />
partners or family members.<br />
Contributors to the original version of this theme included Cate Buchanan,<br />
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue; Wendy Cukier, SAFER-Net Canada;<br />
Adele Kirsten, Institute for Security Studies; Emile LeBrun, consultant; and<br />
Lora Lumpe, Amnesty <strong>Inter</strong>national USA. Comments and suggestions from<br />
reviewers were received from Peter Batchelor, UN Development Programme;<br />
Nicolas Florquin, Small Arms Survey; Keith Krause, Small Arms Survey;<br />
Dr David Meddings, World Health Organisation; Brian Parai, Government<br />
of Canada; Rebecca Peters, <strong>Inter</strong>national Action Network on Small Arms;<br />
Daniël Prins, Government of the Netherlands; Dr Garen Wintermute, Violence<br />
Prevention Research Program, University of California.<br />
ESSENTIAL READING<br />
Buchanan, Cate and Mireille Widmer (2006), Transitioning to Peace: Guns<br />
in Civilian Hands, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, RevCon Policy Brief,<br />
June 2006. Available in English at: www.hdcentre.org/UN+process+on+<br />
small+arms+control<br />
—— (2006), Civilians, guns and peacebuilding: Approaches, norms and<br />
possibilities, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Negotiating Disarmament<br />
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