Bruce in West Oz
New member
I came across this accidentally while doing some research for work.
It's a report titled:
Light Weapons and Intrastate Conflict
Early Warning Factors and Preventative Action
By Edward J. Laurence
While, on a quick glance, it appears to be only concerned with armaments in the wake of civil/military strife, it goes a lot deeper than that.
It's far too long to reprint in full here, but here are a couple of excerpts to whet your appetite:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The increase in the legitimate acquisition of weapons by individual citizens is often a predictor of increased violence in a society, since many of these weapons become the target of centers of violence (gangs, drug dealers) seeking to acquire arms through theft.[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>An increase in information on the legitimate trade flow of arms is needed. Some types of weapon in this class could be added to the UN Register of Conventional Arms. A more effective approach is the development of regional arms registers.
* A second need is to make transparent the legitimate owners of weapons, which would allow authorities to concentrate on others who would be more likely to conduct armed violence.
* If arms flows themselves are too difficult to monitor, at least the manufacturers and the legitimate arms traders could be made public.
* A more controversial suggestion is to develop a system that registers a weapon with an international serial number upon manufacture, so that weapons can be traced to end users.
* Records should be established and made public for all weapons that have been seized, collected, and destroyed.
* Dealing with this problem could be helped if arms-producing states took steps to clarify which types of weapons are strictly for military or police work, as a precursor to establishing control mechanisms to restrict or prohibit ownership of such weapons by civilians.
* Finally, transparency remains critical, not only to publicize the suppliers of tools of violence but also the users. There should be no letup in the adverse publicity which increasingly accompanies the human carnage resulting from the use of these weapons. This publicity should include pictures of the weapons.[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Norms against possession and accumulation of light weaponry are underdeveloped. The norms that evolved in regard to weapons of mass destruction, and some major conventional weapons such as surface-to-surface missiles, do not exist for the small arms and light weapons that dominate today's violence. This means that an important aspect of any disarmament policy is the promotion of norms against accumulation of weapons that can seriously complicate the prevention or resolution of conflict. The multitude of policy actions against antipersonnel land mines serves as a guide to what must be done. For light weaponry the task is all the harder since a norm exists in favor of possessing such weapons, either as part of every country's army or by individuals who fear for their safety. One technique that is being used more often is the public destruction of weapons that have been collected. Another is making public the damage from this class of weapon.[/quote]
The full document is here:
http://www.ccpdc.org/pubs/weapons/weaponsframe.htm
B
cogito ergo sum (Descartes)
<font=-1>I think, therefore I am</font>
cogito ergo doleo
<font=-1>I think, therefore I am depressed</font>
It's a report titled:
Light Weapons and Intrastate Conflict
Early Warning Factors and Preventative Action
By Edward J. Laurence
While, on a quick glance, it appears to be only concerned with armaments in the wake of civil/military strife, it goes a lot deeper than that.
It's far too long to reprint in full here, but here are a couple of excerpts to whet your appetite:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The increase in the legitimate acquisition of weapons by individual citizens is often a predictor of increased violence in a society, since many of these weapons become the target of centers of violence (gangs, drug dealers) seeking to acquire arms through theft.[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>An increase in information on the legitimate trade flow of arms is needed. Some types of weapon in this class could be added to the UN Register of Conventional Arms. A more effective approach is the development of regional arms registers.
* A second need is to make transparent the legitimate owners of weapons, which would allow authorities to concentrate on others who would be more likely to conduct armed violence.
* If arms flows themselves are too difficult to monitor, at least the manufacturers and the legitimate arms traders could be made public.
* A more controversial suggestion is to develop a system that registers a weapon with an international serial number upon manufacture, so that weapons can be traced to end users.
* Records should be established and made public for all weapons that have been seized, collected, and destroyed.
* Dealing with this problem could be helped if arms-producing states took steps to clarify which types of weapons are strictly for military or police work, as a precursor to establishing control mechanisms to restrict or prohibit ownership of such weapons by civilians.
* Finally, transparency remains critical, not only to publicize the suppliers of tools of violence but also the users. There should be no letup in the adverse publicity which increasingly accompanies the human carnage resulting from the use of these weapons. This publicity should include pictures of the weapons.[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Norms against possession and accumulation of light weaponry are underdeveloped. The norms that evolved in regard to weapons of mass destruction, and some major conventional weapons such as surface-to-surface missiles, do not exist for the small arms and light weapons that dominate today's violence. This means that an important aspect of any disarmament policy is the promotion of norms against accumulation of weapons that can seriously complicate the prevention or resolution of conflict. The multitude of policy actions against antipersonnel land mines serves as a guide to what must be done. For light weaponry the task is all the harder since a norm exists in favor of possessing such weapons, either as part of every country's army or by individuals who fear for their safety. One technique that is being used more often is the public destruction of weapons that have been collected. Another is making public the damage from this class of weapon.[/quote]
The full document is here:
http://www.ccpdc.org/pubs/weapons/weaponsframe.htm
B
cogito ergo sum (Descartes)
<font=-1>I think, therefore I am</font>
cogito ergo doleo
<font=-1>I think, therefore I am depressed</font>