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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:27 am
Time: 12:27 am
Results for military assault weapons
1 results foundAuthor: Cukier, Wendy Title: The Feasibility of Increased Restrictions on the Civilian Possession of Military Assault Weapons at the Global Level Summary: The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of the feasibility of increased restrictions on the civilian possession of military assault weapons at the global level. Many states and non-governmental organizations pushed for such measures at the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects but were not successful in getting language included in the final Programme of Action. However, this remains a priority for many. The proliferation and misuse of small arms has been increasingly seen as an epidemic, affecting countries ostensibly “at peace” as well as in conflict zones. Although they do not account for the majority of small arms deaths worldwide, military assault weapons pose a particular threat because of their lethality. These weapons are very efficient – they are designed to allow users with limited skill to kill as many people as possible. They are typically fully automatic or semi-automatic and accept large capacity magazines capable of firing 30-50 bullets without reloading. Victims often die of multiple gunshot wounds. Because they require little skill to use, military assault weapons also make it easy for children to become killers and in some cases, members of armed criminal gangs and informal “child soldiers.” The evidence is clear that the circulation of weapons following the cessation of conflict has a high cost. Interpersonal violence often substitutes for the violence between warring factions and leads to levels of violence comparable to those experienced during conflict.1 For the purposes of this paper, military assault weapon will be defined as fully automatic and selective-fire weapons along with selected semi-automatic rifles designed for military purposes and possessing military features such as use of a large capacity magazine. This definition is consistent with the definition used in the 1994 ban on military assault weapons in the US2 and is consistent with the approach used in Canada and many other countries. Restricting the definition to only fully automatic firearms limits the potential impact of global action. At the same time it is critical that the definition be sufficiently precise to allay the concerns of those who believe that the discussion on civilian possession of military weapons is actually aimed at all firearms. The importance of effective firearms regulation in post-conflict situations has been well-established and a number of UN expert groups have called for a prohibition on the civilian possession of military assault weapons, but there has been limited discussion on the feasibility of proceeding with such a prohibition. This paper draws heavily on the experience of industrialized countries where there have been extensive and complex initiatives undertaken to define and restrict civilian access to military assault weapons in an effort to shed light on issues that affect the feasibility of global action. This paper reviews 1) The impact of the misuse and proliferation of military assault weapons in civilian hands 2) Sources of these weapons in civilian hands, including both legal and illegal markets 3) Definitions of military assault weapons 4) Current approaches to regulating military assault weapons 5) Limitations of current approaches to prohibiting civilian possession of military assault weapons 6) Potential measures that might be taken at the global level 7) Potential roles for Canada 8) Conclusions. Details: Waterloo, ONT: Project Ploushares, 2005. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Ploushares Working Paper 05-2: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://www.guncontrol.ca/English/Home/Releases/wpMAW.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Canada URL: http://www.guncontrol.ca/English/Home/Releases/wpMAW.pdf Shelf Number: 125478 Keywords: GangsGun Control (Canada)Gun ViolenceMilitary Assault Weapons |