MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union

THEME 1
who can show proven risks, historical collecting, or cultural activities. Gun
carrying is generally authorised for three years with the option of renewal,
and the reasons given to justify the licence will be verified regularly, including
at the time of renewing the licence.
The new law establishes improved marking and tracing measures, in
line with the UN Firearms Protocol (which Belgium ratified in September
2004) and the 2005 UN instrument on marking and tracing. Now, all weapons
made or imported into Belgium will be marked with a unique identification
number and registered in the Central Register of Arms. Currently only
800,000 of an estimated 2,000,000 weapons in circulation in Belgium are
registered – and many of them improperly or incompletely.
The new law carries new obligations for gun dealers, who must prove
their professional competence and account for the origin of their income,
as a way to avoid money laundering or illicit trade. Licenses to sell arms are
granted for seven years after which it must be renewed. Finally, breaking
the new laws can lead to up to five years imprisonment and/or a fine of up
to EUR 25,000.
These laws still require fine-tuning. The new legislation does not address
the marking and tracing of ammunition, controls on the manufacture or
conversion of weapons. It will also be critical to review how the police forces
are implementing the new laws, and what further training is required. Legislative
measures responding to gun violence will always be a work in progress.
But these laws are an important step in the right direction.
1. Prohibiting/restricting certain uses of guns
Defining “legitimate” use
Definitions of ‘legitimate purposes’ for small arms possession vary depending
on culture and context. Only a few countries, such as Brunei Darussalam,
Luxembourg and Malaysia, have a total prohibition on civilian gun ownership;
others—like Japan, China and the United Kingdom—severely restrict
civilian possession. Most countries allow ownership for hunting or pest
control on farms, and some allow possession of certain types of weapons
for sport, target shooting or ‘collection’.
More controversial is the notion of self-defence as a legitimate reason
for gun ownership. On the one hand, responsibility for protection against
violence should rest with state authorities, and if everyone armed themselves
for this purpose it is unlikely that societies as a whole would be
safer. On the other hand, where violent crime is rampant, and government
authorities weak or ineffective, many people do feel an acute need to arm
themselves for protection. While an outright rejection of the self-defence
rationale for ownership is problematic, so too is an assumption that such
a rationale is acceptable in all or even a majority of cases.
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