Small Arms and Light Weapons - Harry Frank Guggenheim ...

international humanitarian law. Does the presenceof SALW exacerbate or lengthen armed conflict?demand for small armsAnalyzing demand for small arms involvesexamining who possesses and carries them, whattypes are acquired, and the motivations for acquiringthem. Knowledge of demand is important inthe design of programs intended to address thenegative effects of these weapons, e.g., demobilization,disarmament, and reintegration (DDR) of excombatants,as well as programs for collection anddestruction of weapons.international efforts at controlThe 2001 UN Programme of Action on SmallArms, and various regional treaties and frameworks,have been developed to address the globalproblems associated with small arms and lightweapons. Evaluation research has been conductedto assist in monitoring and evaluating these collaborativeefforts. Such treaties and protocols shouldbe compiled into a database to avoid duplicationand promote complementarities and synergies.design and evaluation of practical policiesand programsA significant amount of research has been conductedon the programs designed to alleviate thenegative effects of small arms. Much of it is classicprogram evaluation, with a focus on evaluatingneeds assessment, goals and objectives of the program,program design, implementation, and impact.Compilation of “lessons learned” and “bestpractices” is the typical outcome of this research.Most of this work has focused on the followingtypes of programs:• Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration(DDR) of ex-combatants• Amnesties and weapons collection• Destruction of surplus weapons• Increasing public awarenesssmall arms and crimeAs mentioned, small arms take an estimated200,000 lives each year outside of group conflictthrough homicide and suicide, as well as inflictinga much greater number of grievous injuries. Theyalso facilitate the commission of millions of crimesof other types, including robbery, assault, and sexualoffenses.By contrast with the other domains of inquirysurveyed above, there is an abundant literature onthe role of small arms in crime, most of it pertainingto the United States, Canada, Australia, andthe United Kingdom. Research on the causes,effects, and costs of gun violence has an especiallylong history in the United States. This is also truefor the demand question, as well as the evaluationof policy and program interventions designed tolessen these harms. There are academic journalsdevoted to this research, well-established researchcenters, and vigorous debates among scholars onthese issues. Such is not the case with research onthe global small arms problem. The challenge is toget this academic community, mainly although notexclusively in the United States, to test the applicabilityof this body of research to small arms problemsoutside the United States.Integrating Salw Research intoLarger IssuesThe research effort on small arms, as indicatedabove, has had a clear link to policies and programsdesigned to prevent and reduce the damagewrought by these weapons. Given the lack ofinformation on small arms at the start of the policyprocess in the mid-1990s, much of the initialresearch was necessarily technical and descriptivein nature: characteristics of weapons, who wasusing them and where, how legal transfers turnedinto illicit ones, etc. In concentrating on theinstrumentalities or tools of violence, researchers6