International Firearms Safety Seminar20 February 2006
International Firearms Safety Seminar
21 to 23 February,Christchurch
Presentation Summaries for Media
19February 2006
More Education, Less Legislation -Mark Barnes
Laws and regulations differ by country, butthe need for firearms safety is global. Firearms safetycritically depends on the behavior of gun owners, regardlessof where they live. Risk factors grow out of the particularcircumstances of individuals in society and the extent oftheir responsible behavior. But no amount of responsiblebehavior can totally prevent accidents. And unfortunately,in the United States, some state governments now punish suchaccidents with criminal, as well as civil,penalties.
This paper will argue that teaching peopleto use their guns safely and encouraging them to follow safepractices is a more effective way of preventing injuriesthan any regulatory regime. In support of this argument,this paper will review the findings from a number of studiesthat focus on unintentional gun injuries.
New SouthWales Sports Shooting Injuries Report - Mark Barnes
Inhis paper Don Barton discusses the NSW Sports ShootingInjuries Report of August 2000 which showed that competitivesports shooting is a remarkably safe sport compared tosports generally. When compared with other sports injuries,the sole injury recorded (which was a non-firearm one) paledin comparison to the multiple injuries found in othersports. The worst sports indicated by the "Sports InjurySurvey -- Pilot Project in the ACT" 1988/89 showed that thethree disciplines of rugby in Australia were by far moredangerous than sports shooting.
The most number ofinjuries in this survey belonged to Rugby Union with 56followed by Australian Rules (46) and then Rugby League(44). A further study in 1982 "Sports Injury Survey -- FinalReport" showed that the worst number of injuries belonged tosoccer (155) followed by rugby league and netball (140each).
When comparing the evidence of sports shootingstudy against general firearm injuries it proves thatcompetitive sports shooting is safer than the general use offirearms.
This study was the first of its kind inAustralia and represented an important in-road into an areaof research that had been lacking. It also provided someimportant findings at a time when public perception offirearm ownership and use was extremelynegative.
Firearms Legislation and Reductions inFirearm Related Suicide Deaths in New Zealand - AnnetteBeautrais
In this paper, Annette Beautrais examines theimpact of introducing more restrictive firearms legislationin New Zealand, on suicides involving firearms. She detailsthe background of suicide prevention, in particular, theavailability of guns playing a role in impulsive suicideattempts among young men.
The legislative changes in1992 (i.e. the Amendment to the Arms Act) provided a naturalexperiment which made it possible to examine the impact ofmore restrictive legislation on rates of suicide byfirearms. This resulted in a comparison of suicide byfirearms before, during and after implementation of theAmendment to the Arms Act 1992 as well as other comparisonsand explorations of information.
Small ArmsResearch in the Pacific Islands - David Capie
Thispaper (to be provided in absentia due to illness) providesan overview of the state of research on illicit small armstrafficking in the South Pacific. Despite some alarmingheadlines, the Pacific is not plagued by the kind of illicitweapons flows that have affected other parts of the globe. Apart from Papua New Guinea, the region is alsocomparatively free from gun violence and armedconflict.
However, the misuse and proliferation ofillicit firearms is a growing concern. Weak stateinstitutions and limited capacities to enforce existing lawsmeans that the present situation cannot be taken forgranted.
Addressing the problem should begin withimproved firearms laws, secure armouries and improvedweapons controls, but it will ultimately require a long-termcommitment to improving levels of governance andstrengthening state capacity throughout theregion.
Casualties from Firearm Accidents: TrendsSince 1935 - Chaz Forsyth
This paper examines trends infirearm accident (unintentional) casualty data provided byNZ Police and NZ Mountain Safety Council (Inc) from 1935 to2004. Firearm accidents have steadily declined, withnotable reductions in the early 1950s, the early 1970s andthe late 1990s. Whilst Scott and Scott (2005) estimates thatthis fall in total number of firearms accidents reducedannual societal cost by 253%, they recommend thatsignificant spending is justified to further reduce firearmaccidents even further. The analysis falls into twoparts.
The first discusses the multitude of factorsthat may have lead to changes in the casualty rate fromfirearm accidents such as: volume of firearms, proportion ofthe firearm-owning population, proportion of 'high risk'population, greater awareness of the need for firearmsafety, wider knowledge of first aid, improved firearm ownerlicensing provisions, inter alia.
The second part willconduct formal time series analysis to examine the linkagesbetween the economic, educational and institutional factorslisted above. This will greatly extend on the conjecturesput forth in Scott and Scott (2005) and the notedcorrelations between access to guns and risk of death by inthe US by Rushforth (1974) and Canada by Chapdelaine andMaurice (1996).
State and Civil Society Working inCollaboration for Firearm Safety - Joe Green and MikeSpray
In this paper NZ Police Inspector Joe Green andMountain Safety Council firearm safety programme managerMike Spray explain the collaboration at both a national andlocal level between NZ Police and Mountain Safety Council,the result of which is "safe communities together".
TheNZ Police hold responsibility for the Arms Act 1983 and ArmsRegulations 1992; both of which promote the safe use andcontrol of firearms and other weapons. NZ Police s corephilosophy is one of community oriented policing, predicatedon public cooperation. Regulation 14 of the ArmsRegulations 1992 requires that every applicant for aFirearms Licence undergo a course of training and pass atheoretical test conducted by a member of the Police or aperson approved for the purpose by a member of thePolice.
The MSC s purpose is to enable people to enjoytheir recreation safely in the outdoors. This includes thesporting use of firearms. Firearms Safety Instructorswarranted by MSC are the only persons approved by NZ Policeto deliver the training and testing of Firearms Licenceapplicants required under Regulation 14 of the ArmsRegulations 1992.
These findings add to a growing bodyof international evidence which suggests that regulatoryaccess to firearms may have positive effects in reducing theuse of firearms in impulsive suicide attempts, particularlyby young men.
The British Handgun Ban: Logic, Politicsand Effect - Colin Greenwood
In this paper (to bepresented in absentia due to illness) Colin Greenwood looksat the 1997 ban on handguns in Britain and explores itslogic and effect. In essence, this piece of legislation,like most other arms control legislation in Britain beforeit, has had little effect on crime regardless of the factthat it was forced as a result of the Dunblane Massacre inScotland that claimed the lives of one teacher and 16children. The gunman, Thomas Hamilton, also killedhimself.
The ensuing media frenzy about the killingsand a committed campaign to ban handguns (and perhaps allguns if at all possible) did lead to a change inlegislation. However, were it not for an impending GeneralElection the legislation which banned handguns may not havehappened at all, or at least, not in the form it was pushedthrough.
This was not the first time that a tragedy hadforced harsher gun controls on British citizens. The 1987Hungerford Massacre when Michael Ryan ran amok in a smallrural village with an AK 47 and a pistol killing 16 andinjuring 15 more had provided an opportunity for suchchange. This, along with the legislation after the DunblaneMassacre showed a trend of responding to a high profilefirearms incident by enacting new legislation onfirearms.
Guns at Home: To Lock or Not to Lock -John Lott Jnr
It is frequently assumed that safestorage gun laws reduce accidental gun deaths and totalsuicides, while the possible impact on crime rates areignored. However, given existing work on the adverse impactof other safety laws, such as safety caps for storingmedicine, even the very plausible assumption of reducedaccidental gun deaths cannot be taken for granted.
Thisresearch analyses both state and county data spanning twentyyears in the US, but it finds no support that safe storagelaws reduce either juvenile accidental gun deaths orsuicides. Instead, these storage requirements appear toimpair people's ability to use gunsdefensively.
Because accidental shooters also tend tobe the ones most likely to violate the new law, safe storagelaws increase violent and property crimes against low riskcitizens with no observable offsetting benefit in terms ofreduced accidents or suicides.
Hubris in the North:The Canadian Firearms Registry - Gary Mauser
In thispaper, Gary Mauser investigates the implementation of theCanadian Firearms Registry of 1998 on public safety. Theresults of this investigation are somewhat pessimistic, asMauser himself agrees. In essence, Mauser has found thatthe Firearms Registry was expensive and ineffective inensuring or improving public safety.
Although his paperis a preliminary effort to evaluate the effects of theregistry he says that expert opinion was divided about thepotential of such legislation.
On the basis of Mauser sresearch and results, public safety cannot be said to havebeen improved in Canada by the Firearms Registry becauseoverall criminal violence and suicide rates remainunchanged. He says perhaps the most striking change is thatgang-related homicides and homicides involving handguns haveincreased substantially.
He points out that as NewZealand discovered decades ago, a firearms registry is anexpensive proposition that may not be worth theeffort.
An Overview of Firearms Theft inAustralia - Jenny Mouzos
The theft of firearms poses apotential threat to society as they may result in somefirearms being linked to injury, violence or criminalactivities. Without the collection of accurate and detailedinformation on the nature of firearms theft, it is difficultto determine the level of risk posed by stolenfirearms.
This presentation provides an overview of thecircumstances and characteristics of firearms theft inAustralia based on data collected over a six-month period in2004. It examines details of the types of firearms stolen,locations vulnerable to theft, the modus operandi of theoffenders, as well as the level of compliance in the securestorage of firearms by their owners.
Future directionsfor policy and practice will also be discussed.
Pleasenote, this paper will not be provided prior to its deliveryat the Seminar.
Women and Disarmament: What can belearnt from conflicts in Solomon Islands, Bougainville andPNG? - Carol Nelson
Women are under-utilised in peaceand reconciliation processes. Women have an important roleto play in establishing and maintaining peace and instigmatising weapons abuse. All too frequently women areexcluded from a formal role and find themselves initiatinginformal peace and disarmament activities as a result of thedevastation they witness.
At the height of the recentcivil tension in the Solomon Islands women in Honiara formedWomen for Peace, a non-aligned, multi-ethnic group with theaim of restoring peace and pursuing reconciliation. One ofthe objectives of Women for Peace was "to convince thefighting parties to lay down their arms and thus open theway to democracy and good governance in SolomonIslands".
These women held meetings with militants andcrossed fighting lines to take essential items to familiesinnocently caught up in the tension. They were alsoeffective in drawing attention to the social and humanconsequences of the fighting. Yet, despite their activerole and the understanding they had developed of thesituation, they and others of civil society were excludedfrom the negotiations that eventually brought a form ofpeace.
This presentation will explore some of thecontributions that women have made to disarmament in recentconflicts in the Solomon Islands, Bougainville and Papua NewGuinea, and how lessons learned can be applied morewidely.
The Firearm Safety Equation - RickPatterson
Firearm safety and safety education focus onthe prevention of accidents. Accidents are unintendedevents, typically a chain of events that lead to unplannedand unwanted outcomes.
Safety has two components:design and operating procedures. Setting standards toensure that firearms and ammunition work in harmony is whatthe Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute(SAAMI) is all about.
Since 1926, SAAMI has establishedthe standards that ensure safety and reliability. On theoperating procedures side, there are only 10 simple rules tosafe operations of a firearm. Communicating safe operatingprocedures to the public can be difficult. The media spendsmore time on the unrelated issue of the willful misuse of afirearm to intentionally cause harm to another or toones-self.
The firearms industry and its partners inthe United States have found ways to get the message out andhave been very successful in their efforts to preventunintentional consequences.
The Incident Scene WillSpeak to You, You Must Listen for the Sake of Prevention -Rod Slings
Rod Slings paper regarding huntingincidents begins with the International Hunter EducationAssociation s definition of a Hunting Incident: "Anoccurrence or an event that results in the physical injuryor death of a person or persons which involves the dischargeor use of a hunting implement while engaged in huntingactivity."
With this in mind Slings indicates that thefocus on safe use of firearms has become more important ashunting receives more scrutiny. Therefore the skill andknowledge of safe firearm handling is the foundation ofkeeping hunting the safe activity it has become.
Slingspoints out that a good investigation of a hunting "incident"is vital in determining how a hunting incident occurred andtherefore how to prevent further incidents. Research ofhunting related incidents is the key toprevention.
South Australia s Firearms SafetyProgram for Unsupervised Shooters: Ten Years of SteadyProgress - Geoff Smith
South Australia began a new erain public firearms safety in 1993 with the adoption of theamended Firearms Act 1977. This was three years before thePort Arthur massacre which forced the rest of Australia toreform gun laws.
A key feature of the revisedlegislation was the recognition that each different purposefor which firearms were legally permitted required specifictraining. Therefore different groups set up their owntraining schemes. The bulk were directed to a trainingcourse offered by Technical and Further Education (TAFE)Colleges across the state. Before establishing the courses,a planning committee set up in 1988 had decided that theTAFE system was the most logical agency through which tooffer the training.
The situation now is that at theend of 2005 more than 17,000 people have completed the TAFESA Firearms Course. Clubs cooperating with the TAFE programare generally happy with the arrangements and have gainednew members as a result. Anecdotal reports suggest apleasing decline in road sign vandalism and otheranti-social misuse of guns and a general increase incompliance with hunting laws.
Perhaps the mostsignificant achievement of the course (and the otherconcurrent legal changes) has been the reduction inunintentional firearms deaths in SA. Nationally, 245 deathsfrom unintentional shootings were reported between 1993 and2002. In SA, there has not been a single genuine case tonow of an unintentional shooting (with the exception of avery intoxicated 35-year-old male who died in 2003 after"losing" playing Russian roulette -- this was classed as asuicide, however).
Emma Watkins - Breaking theBarriers: Rural Maori perception of the barriers toobtaining a New Zealand firearms licence
Informationreceived from credible sources indicates that the issue ofrural Maori being unlicensed firearms owners and users hasbeen apparent for a very long time. This is an ongoingproblem within the Bay of Plenty district.
Earliermeetings with Maori communities have given indicators as tothe reasons for non-licensing, signifying that this is alsoa problem for the Maori population and one that theythemselves also wish to address. Police Arms Control staffidentified a number of factors which are believed to be themain barriers to rural Maori obtaining a firearms licence,and through results of a survey implemented by local IwiLiaison Officers from the New Zealand Police on local iwiand hapu, hope to gain further insight into these barriersand learn possible new ones.
The study is ongoing andsurveys are being regularly received from differentlocations within the Bay of Plenty. So far the results arevery interesting and indicate problems that were notoriginally considered by the research team.
The resultsof this study will be analysed further, then used toimplement solutions and ensure ongoing strategies are set inplace.
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