Firearms control workshop from Jan 27

NEW DELHI, January 25: The Purulia arms drop provided a graphic illustration of the dangers posed by illicit trafficking in firearms and the need for control on such activities. It is precisely with this objective in mind that a workshop on "Firearms Regulation for the Purposes of Crime Prevention and Safety" is being organised in Delhi.

The workshop is being hosted by the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science and is sponsored by the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division, based in Vienna, Austria. The five-day workshop beginning January 27 will focus on how to stem cross-border trafficking in firearms destined for use by criminals and is to provide a common forum within which governments can exchange information regarding firearms safety. The workshop is the last in a series of four workshops on firearms regulation organised by the UN in the past few months. The other three workshops were held in Brazil (for the American region), Slovenia (for the European region) and Tanzania (for the African Region). The present workshop will cover the Asia and Far East region and will be attended by 30 to 35 overseas participants from the region. A few nations from the West and UN officials are also expected to attend.

The workshop is expected to assist member states in streamlining their firearms regulations and is also expected to lead to a draft for a United Nations "Declaration of Principles" on firearms regulations.

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The workshop will address issues such as firearm-related homicides, suicides and accidents, impact of firearm violence on public security, the role of organised crime in transnational smuggling of non-military firearms and the link between firearm trafficking, drugs and terrorism.

The workshop will also help in completion of a global survey of firearm regulation and ownership which will be based on data from 69 countries. Preliminary results of the survey indicated that a majority of countries had firearms regulation to some extent and had placed restrictions on the import, export and manufacture of long guns and handguns. However as one of the delegates to the workshop, Dr Slawomir Redo, Head of Criminal Justice Systems Management and Information at the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division, pointed out, comparing statistics between countries is a "treacherous exercise".