Topic: Combating the Spread of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Country: France
Delegate Name: River Wahl
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All France position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
There is an estimated total of 900 million firearms in the world today, only about a quarter of that is owned by law enforcement and the military. The problem is, where do all these leftover weapons end up? The number of unregulated and illicit small arms is very high, with some countries having thousands of weapons, including fully automatic assault weapons, circulating through gangs, crime rings, and the rest of the civilian population. Most countries have laws pertaining to the control and regulation of these weapons, but that doesn’t stop them from floating around illegally. In fact, some countries have a very serious problem with SALWS, such as Nigeria, and countries in Sub Saharan Africa, this is due to a poor police force and ineffective government, In addition to poor record keeping and regulation. The over circulation and abundance of these weapons leads to mass murders, robbery, and serious crimes, and is a massive problem as thousands of new weapons are churned out each day.
There have been many attempts to curb the trade and circulation of SALWS, with countries offering buy back programs, more effective regulations of guns, and more effective policing. However, these have only been marginally effective, as in many countries the number of small arms and light weapons is just too high, and more flow to and from borders every day. There has been some panels and a number of treaties regarding gun control in the U.N but none has made any landmarks among this issue.
France, A country with a very large number of guns, approximately 19,000,000, has a relatively low number of crimes and deaths each year due to SALWS. However, it has had recent problems with a growing number of assault and other weapons being cheaply acquired from eastern Europe and the Balkans. France will support any kind of resolution that will impair the ability of weapons to flow into French borders.
The French government can expect cooperation from almost all western countries, including countries within the EU. It may however, expect resistance from countries that gain from illegal arms trade.
