MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union

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