Small Arms
 Small arms and light weapon (SALW) is a term widely used for man-portable lethal weapons that expels or lunches bullet or projectile by the action of an explosion. Such as revolvers, pistols, Machine guns, Sub-Machine guns, Sniper rifles, carbines, hand grenades, shotguns, grenade launchers, light machineguns etc.

Facts About Small Arms
• More than 740,000 men, women and children die each year as a result of armed violence.
• At least 95 countries can produce small arms and ammunition.
• Small arms are responsible for 60-90% of direct conflict deaths that occur each year.
• Tens of thousands of children are armed and fighting in more than 20 conflicts around the word.
• Most of the victims are civilians
• An estimated 2 million children have been killed with small arms from 1990 to 2004.
• AK-47 is the world’s favorite killing machine which is produced in 14 countries.
• Unfortunately Pakistan has one of the greatest per capita rates of gun ownership.
• The rate of private gun ownership in Pakistan is 11.6 fire arms per 100 people.
• It is believed that some twenty million small weapons are in civilian hands.
• Around 50,000 are gun suicide victims every year.
• Estimates of the black market trade in small arms ranges from US $2-10 billion a year.
• 85% of firearm homicide victims are under age of 44, and 90% of gun related homicides occur amongst men. In addition, men comprise 88% of gun suicide.

SPADO Work Related to Small Arms Include
• To create and promote awareness on Small arms problem and discourage armed violence.
• To support the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) to achieve objectives. In that regard SPADO is lobbying in favor of Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), effective implementation of UN Program of action and deweaponisation of the society.
• To encourage media in highlighting the issues of small arms and gun violence in Pakistan.
• To mobilize and effectively utilize the youth volunteers in campaigns against small arms.
• To engage religious scholars to condemn illegal possession and use of small arms.
• To conduct research on various aspects of small arms and Gun violence.

 

13-19 June, 2011: Global Week Of Action Against Gun Violence

SPADO arranged a press conference on behalf of IANSA (the International Action Network on Small Arms) on June 18, 2011 in connection to Global week of action against gun violence. The press conference was very effective in drawing attention to the human cost of gun proliferation and misuse. It generated a lot of interest among the journalists present there. They actively participated in the question answer session and their queries were duly answered by Mr Asmatullah Khan Project Officer, Mr. Muhammad Zaheer Khan National Coordinator and Ms. Amna Durrani Program Coordinator. In the first half of seminar Mr. Asmatullah Khan Project Officer highlighted the overall global situation regarding armed violence and small arms. He further continued and spoke on the situation in Pakistan and linked the phenomenon of small arms and armed violence with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This whole was meticulously explained by Asmatullah Khan with the help of facts and figures. Some senior journalists were also present in the press conference and they really appreciated the efforts of SPADO and the importance of global week of action in Pakistan’s context. We also issued a press release in that regard in which the work of SPADO was divulge besides highlighting the problem of armed violence and small arms in global as well as local perspective. The interest was so immense that journalists involved the whole staff of SPADO in discussion even on tea. Those few who couldn’t get the chance to put their question use the occasion to find their answers. Some of the journalists were interested in feature writing on the issue and requested SPADO’s support. We appreciated there endeavors and invited, those who were interested to further explore the issue, to our head office. They took keen interest in our previous publications regarding armed violence and small arms which were distributed among the interested journalists.

Consequences of the Proliferation of Small Arms
• War/civil war.
• Terrorism
• Urban crime
• Domestic violence
• Underdevelopment
• Arial firing.

Causes of Armed Violence
• Lack of tolerance.
• Our society has accepted violence as a means to resolve disputes.
• Lacunas in our justice system.
• Low literacy level especially legal literacy.
• Lack of political will.
• Civil war in neighboring country.
• Narrow nationalism.

Women and Guns
It is overwhelmingly men who buy, sell, and use small arms around the world, while women are victimised to a disproportionate degree. This dynamic is often overlooked in discussions of armed violence.

Arms Brokers
Arms brokers are the middlemen who negotiate, arrange for, or otherwise facilitate the transfer of weapons. Insufficient controls on such activities greatly facilitate the work of unscrupulous brokers who are involved in illicit or otherwise undesirable arms transfers. They have been identified as key to illicit transfers that have fuelled many recent civil wars, including in Sierra Leone, Angola or Colombia.

Marking and Tracing of Small Arms
There is a crucial need for enhancing the ability of law enforcement agencies to trace weapons found in illicit possession back to the point at which these weapons were diverted from the legal to the illicit arms market. This, in turn, requires easily identifiable markings on all small arms and light weapons, the establishment of registers to follow their trade routes, and the capacity of national authorities to trace these in their records.

Weapons Collection and Destruction
Collection and destruction programs are popular ways to eliminate existing small arms stockpiles, especially in post-conflict regions. How effective are they? What are the key elements that make collection and destruction successful?

Trade Controls
Strict controls on export, transit and import of weapons are essential to prevent the further proliferation of small arms and their abuse by those violating human rights and international humanitarian law. However, existing national and regional controls continue to contain significant loopholes and there is a crucial lack of an appropriate international treaty to regulate international arms transfers.

Small Arms vs. Development
How can a country improve its infrastructure and economy when it is rife with small arms violence? Whether through crime, armed rebellion, or civil war, small arms not only hinder development, their presence limits the willingness of other nations to provide humanitarian assistance.

 

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