Topic: Combating the Spread of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Country: Liberia
Delegate Name: Jovany Flores
School: Flint Southwestern Classical Academy
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Liberia position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
The spread of small arms and light weapons has been an exponentially growing issue on an international scale. There are events in which weapons of such sort have been used in ludicrous manners. Places like the United Kingdom and Western Australia tend to have fewer issues concerning small arms and light weapons because they either restrict weapons to civilians or have strict policies against them. In other nations with more lenient control over those materials are often the countries with safety issues and problems with homicide. Currently, it has become a major issue in being able to control the spreading of light weapons in the countries that have allowed them to be in civilian hands thus far.
Liberia has a restrictive weapon policy. No civilians can posses any firearm or ammunition. Therefore, Liberia shows very low numbers of homicides due from small arms and/or weapons. Liberia frowns upon the civilian use of weaponry, because of the fact that in giving humans that amount of power usually leads to catastrophic events.
Liberia proposes the idea to create an international treaty in order to reduce or eliminate civilian use of small arms and light weapons. The agreement would require all countries, which ratify the treaty, to enforce the policy of creating stricter policies towards the small arms and/or prohibit them from civilian use. In doing so, many conflicts, like civil wars, can avoid higher levels murder or injury. All nations individually can potentially become more peaceful as a whole.
