4th July, 2006

Firearms are used in almost 40 per cent of all homicides across the globe, according to data presented at the UN’s Small Arms Review Conference.

Data from the Small Arms Survey - an independent research project at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, shows that firearms cause at least 200,000 non-conflict related deaths each year around the world each year - including homicides, suicides and unintentional shooting deaths.

The survey also shows that about 25 per cent of the $US4 billion annual global trade in small arms is illicit.

In Colombia, for example, where as many as one in 10 deaths is caused by firearms, it’s estimated that as well as the 700,000 registered firearms, there are as many as 2.4 million illegal guns in circulation.

Other information presented to the conference shows that illegal small arms were used in 47 of the world’s 49 major conflicts during the Nineties and had supported the activities of groups involved in organised crime, drug trafficking and the illegal exploitation of precious minerals.

The conference highlighted some of the progress which has been made in the fight against illegal small arms. This included news that more than 60 countries have now collected and destroyed significant amounts of illegal small arms and that more than 50 countries have strengthened their national legislation to control the illicit trade.

- DAVID ADAMS