More JTO BS- New Study: Millions More Hidden Guns in Europe Than Previously

[WAGCEVP]

New Study: Millions More Hidden Guns in Europe Than Previously
Revealed


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>
> July 9, 2003
>
> New Study: Millions More Hidden Guns in Europe Than Previously Revealed
>
> Press Release
> Small Arms Survey
> Avenue Blanc 47
> Geneva, Switzerland
> Phone: + 41 22 908.57.77
> www.smallarmssurvey.org
>
> Contact:
> Aaron Karp
> Phone: + 41 22 908.57.77
>
> British Firearm Owners Outarmed 3 to 1 by French, Germans
>
> "Contrary to the common assumption that Europeans are virtually unarmed,
> an estimated 84 million firearms are legally held in the 15 member states
> of the EU. Of these, 80 per cent -- 67 million guns -- are in civilian
> hands," according to new research released today (July 1st).
>
> "Citizens of most European countries are more heavily armed than they
> realise, with an average of 17.4 guns per 100 people in the 15 EU
> countries alone," says Aaron Karp, co-author of the Small Arms Survey
> report. The UK has 10 firearms per 100 people.
>
> "Many, but not all countries of Europe already have a strong gun culture,"
> according to Karp, whose research for the Small Arms Survey 2003, to be
> released at the UN (this) week, shows that:Gun laws are tightest in the
> United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland in per capita terms. Germans
> buy almost as many firearms as Americans.
> France has more lawfully held handguns than the Czech Republic, Denmark,
> England and Wales, Poland, Scotland, and Sweden combined.
> Across Europe, officials agree that illegal guns greatly outnumber known
> legal firearms.
> "Contrary to the common assumption, guns are not rare or traditionally
> highly regulated in either France or Germany," says Karp. In the 13 months
> to last October, 47 people died and more than 36 were wounded with
> privately held guns in mass shootings in France, Germany, Italy and
> Switzerland.
>

 

[WAGCEVP]

Small Arms Proliferation Jeopardises Global Development - New

Small Arms Proliferation Jeopardises Global Development - New
Report


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>
> July 10, 2003
>
> Small Arms Proliferation Jeopardises Global Development - New Report
>
> Press Release
> Small Arms Survey
> Avenue Blanc 47
> Geneva, Switzerland
> Phone: 646-249-7752
> www.smallarmssurvey.org
>
> Contact:
> Emile LeBrun
> Phone: 646-249-7752
>
> Where Guns Dominate, Infrastructure is Damaged, Local Economies Collapse,
> and Investment Stops
>
> Small arms proliferation and misuse jeopardise human development in many
> of the world's most underdeveloped nations, a new report finds. Beyond
> deaths and injuries, small arms availability and misuse can often lead to
> economic collapse, damaged or destroyed infrastructure, and the withdrawal
> of private investment, according to the 2003 edition of the Small Arms
> Survey.
>
> "Health, security, education, economic growth, and infrastructure all
> suffer where guns dominate," said Keith Krause, Programme Director of the
> Small Arms Survey. "Even when the fighting stops, where the guns remain,
> the insecurity and fear continue."
>
> The report documents a range of development-related impacts of small arms
> availability, including a rise in the incidence and lethality of
> criminality; the collapse or erosion of social services; a decline in
> economic activities; and threats to development interventions.
>
> Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development
> Programme writes in a foreword to the report, "[Small arms] have an
> insidious effect on development: by undermining the safety and security of
> communities, threatening livelihoods, and destroying social networks, they
> at best hold back and at worst contribute to the reversal of hard-won
> development gains."
>
> Among other findings of the 2003 Small Arms Survey: Development
> Denied:Almost 50 per cent of the lowest-ranking countries listed on the
> UNDP 2002 Human Development Index (HDI) are severely affected by armed
> conflict.
> Political and armed violence is not clearly distinguished from large-scale
> criminal violence in many developing countries.
> Firearm violence poses a pervasive threat to many development projects,
> through risks to field staff and the extra costs of providing security for
> field staff and beneficiaries.
>
> More information: www.smallarmssurvey.org/Media or contact Emile LeBrun at
> (646) 249-7752 (mobile) or [email protected].
>
> The Small Arms Survey 2003: Development Denied, the third annual global
> analysis of small arms issues (published by Oxford University Press), was
> released today at the United Nations, during the Biennial Meeting of
> States on Small Arms (July 7-11).
>
> An independent research project funded by 12 governments, the Small Arms
> Survey is the principal international source of public information on all
> aspects of small arms, based at the Graduate Institute of International
> Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.
> Date of Release: July 8, 2003

 

[WAGCEVP]

Our Guns are holding up their socialist progress - Boohoo!

Holding Up Development: The Effects of Small Arms and Light Weapons


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>
> July 10, 2003
>
> Holding Up Development: The Effects of Small Arms and Light Weapons
>
> Commentary
> by Robert Muggah
>
> With the first UN Biennial Meeting of States to discuss the UN's programme
> of action on small arms and light weapons taking place in New York between
> 7-11 July 2003, Robert Muggah considers some of the relationships between
> small arms misuse and development -- and what the development community
> is, or isn't, doing about it.
>
> Cheap, portable and readily available: every year more than half a million
> people are killed through the misuse of small arms such as handguns,
> assault rifles and grenades. Millions more are crippled. With poverty
> providing an ideal breeding ground for small arms proliferation, African
> countries are currently the worst hit by a global epidemic of armed
> violence which threatens the safety and well being of people in developed
> and developing countries alike.
>
> The human costs of small arms misuse have social and economic consequences
> also -- affecting the opportunities and productivity of poor communities
> further still. From Latin America and the Caribbean to sub-saharan Africa,
> South and South East Asia, research has shown how scarce household
> resources are being devoted to the treatment and care of the victims of
> violence, as well as to informal and unregulated forms of security -- such
> as para-militarism and vigilantism. Small arms misuse is also strongly
> associated with the increasing lethality of criminality, forced migration,
> the deterioration of investment and trade and the obstruction of aid
> delivery and assistance. Both directly and indirectly then, small arms
> misuse undermines the quality and quantity of development in poor
> countries.
>
> Just as poverty and violence are intertwined, so too must be their
> effective remedies. Research has shown that investments in improving
> public security -- from the strengthening of community policing in Malawi
> to investments in better lighting and communications infrastructure in
> districts of Albania -- are strongly correlated with reductions in
> violence and poverty. But the development community has yet to fully wake
> up to the wide-ranging effects of small arms. The issue is often treated
> as somebody else's problem, as too big and complex and therefore not
> amenable to a developmental response.
>
> Fortunately, innovative and proactive approaches to the issue are emerging
> from the affected communities themselves. Research has revealed for
> example that local Kosovo-Albanian and Serb communities are less attached
> to their weapons than commonly believed, and that many civilians recognise
> the importance of reducing the number of arms in their community in order
> for trust to take hold, and development to flourish.
>
> Such findings challenge the popular assumption that once arms become
> embedded within a culture they cannot be removed. To the contrary, many
> communities eagerly participate in measures to reduce the threat of
> violence and the misuse of small arms. The International Action Network on
> Small Arms has documented a vast array of community-led efforts that often
> escape the headlines: from anti-weapons campaigns in Rio de Janeiro to
> gun-free zones in Johannesburg.
>
> What is needed now is more concentrated investment in these efforts from
> the international development community. Small arms control should no
> longer be confined to a narrow group of experts in the disarmament sector
> or conceived purely as a "soft" or low-priority security issue. Instead,
> it should be re-positioned as one of many central pillars of the security
> and development agendas of the international community and affected
> states.
>
> Whilst international and national agencies have begun to recognise weapon
> trafficking and small arms control as a development issue, converting
> noble aspirations into action presents a number of challenges. Firstly,
> many of the ongoing efforts to reduce small arms misuse focus too
> simplistically on the supply of arms alone, ignoring reasons for their
> demand, or the effects they have on communities. To be effective, these
> efforts need to complement their top-down control of arms supplies with
> increased involvement from affected communities in the design,
> implementation and monitoring of strategies to reduce armed violence.
>
> Secondly, there are still many governments, and thus development aid
> departments that are politically adverse to recognising small arms control
> as a development issue. A number of these are reluctant to regulate
> civilian possession or restrain local markets in small arms. Alarmingly,
> some development agencies also still require convincing of the importance
> of the issue in relation to their mainstream activities. The World Bank,
> for example, supports demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes to
> reduce armed violence in war-torn areas, and has recently called for the
> DDR of over 350,000 ex-combatants in nine countries of the Great Lakes
> region of Africa alone. Yet the World Bank's own Operational Policy (2.30)
> insists that no funds be devoted to the first 'D' of 'DDR' - disarmament -
> nor to small arms control. That the World Bank is unable to directly
> support disarmament is paradoxical and threatens to undermine the success
> of the regional initiative.
>
> Thirdly, the UN Programme of Action to Combat the Illicit Trafficking of
> Small Arms was drawn up in July 2001, and makes passing reference to the
> importance of curbing small arms availability and misuse in relation to
> development. Whilst the programme is a start, many member states, and
> particular those in Africa, were disappointed at the United States'
> insistence on focusing the matter only on illegal and not legal trade in
> small arms, and its refusal to endorse a programme which placed
> restrictions on supplying non-state actors with arms, or prohibiting
> civilian possession.
>
> Finally, it is vital that NGOs, UN agencies and interested parties
> articulate relevant campaigning goals that are easily communicated to the
> public and politicians and translatable into policy objectives for donors
> and affected countries. Given the far-reaching consequences of small arms
> misuse on development, aid targeted at small arms reduction represents a
> cost-effective investment. But the real test is for the development
> community to think creatively about how to successfully and sustainably
> "roll" small arms reduction into current and future poverty-reduction
> priorities.
>
> Freedom from fear and the promotion of safety and security are
> indisputable preconditions for human development. Though the development
> sector faces a host of competing priorities, its proponents should recall
> that the reduction and destruction of small arms can play a significant
> role in advancing greater security and development for all.
>
>
> Robert Muggah, Senior Research, Small Arms Survey,
> Ground Floor, Avenue Blanc 47, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
>
> For further information, contact Sally Gainsbury, id21, email:
> [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0) 1273 877305
>
> The Small Arms Survey is an independent research project located at the
> Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland. It
> serves as the principle international source of public information on all
> aspects of small arms, and as a resource centre for governments, policy
> makers, researchers, and activists. www.smallarmssurvey.org

 

[mussi]

Again an institute located in a commie ****hole of Switzerland.

If nobody in Albania had guns, they'd butcher each other with knives and do that quite more often than the Swiss in Switzerland. In Africa, part of the violence is surely related to poverty, but taking away the guns there won't solve one problem.

Looks like we need a new system of work permits here so people like Robert Muggiah can't live on the dime of the Swiss taxpayers that help to fund way more than one UN organization.

 

[fallingblock]

The Swiss seem to have.....

developed quite a love affair with the U.N. over the past couple of decades, haven't they?

I hope there are enough of us to counter- organize against these anti-gun wannabees

They appear to be "activists" seeking a cause

 

[vmi93]

I don't think it's fair to demonize an entire nation because one whacko advocacy group has its office there. Do you blame the US whenever PETA or the Earth Liberation Front issue press releases?

There are organized morons in every country.

 

[fallingblock]

vmi93.....

I in no way wish to 'demonize an entire nation".

I was merely stating the fact that Switzerland has moved a lot closer to the U.N. over the past two decades.

It is likely inevitable as the political landscape in Europe evolves and strict neutrality is no longer perceived by many Swiss (particularly the Franco-Swiss) as providing benefit to the nation.

The "activists seeking a cause" I refer to are in many cases NOT Swiss at all, but of other nationalities gathering near the U.N. and NGO offices in Geneva to push their agenda of disarmanent.

Sadly, it seems that many Swiss are much more receptive to the concept of civilian disarmament than before.

vmi? You wouldn't know Dave Pistol...biology instructor?

 

[vmi93]

Sorry to imply that I was responding to your post. My reply was focused on Mussi's post above yours. I don't keep up with a lot of what goes on in Europe, but I had always had the impression that Switzerland was doing a good job of avoiding entanglements like the EU and the UN.

The "imported activist" problem seems to be happening everywhere. I seem to recall a sizeable foreign presence in some of the recent Communist-funded antiwar protests in the US.

I don't remember Mr. Pistol from my (pre-coed) days at VMI, but I was a history major and avoided the Science Building end of campus as much as I could.

 

[fallingblock]

That's O.K. vmi93.....

Sometimes I am a bit vague with my posts

Yes, the problem of "imported activists" is literally a growth industry.

The new head of I.A.N.S.A. at the U.N. is Rebecca Peters. She is a U.S. citizen who loathes most of what the U.S. stands for. A graduate of University of Sydney Law School, Rebecca was casting around for her own personal crusade to "make the world a better place" just about the time of the Port Arthur shooting in Tasmania. Lots of National T.V. and a big hug for the P.M. when the anti-gun laws came in....and Becky had found her niche

She moved back to the U.S. and worked for the Soros Foundation...even claiming at one point to have been instrumental in formulating the plan to "sue the gun industry to death" Now she is pulling the strings at the international level...and getting paid very well along with the media spotlight she craves.

There are dozens of these "make the world safe from guns" zealots flitting around the global stage...some of them more effective than others.

One of the 'top guns' from New Zealand is Philip Alpers...late of the Million Mommies and currently with the Harvard Injury Prevention Unit.
Phil specializes in half-baked 'research' and plagiarizing the works of other "gun policy experts", so he tends to move around a lot .

There is money by the wheelbarrow-full from global socialist foundations and charitable trusts within the U.S. to fund these people, and the media fawn over them as though they actually had a clue

So....how do we fight these 'anti-freedom celebrities'?
Any ideas are appreciated

It's a mystery, vmi93....history majors often seem to have that aversion to science buildings...it must be the formalin?
Dave Pistol is a fine field naturalist with whom I studied at University.

 

[Destructo6]

Freedom from fear

What an irrational concept.