1. Strategies for National Regulation of SALW Dr. W. James Arputharaj, Asian Youth Centre, India

2. Strategies for National Regulation of SALW Gun Licenses are easily available in India especially in Haryana: Tanvi Dhamija's suicide on March 4, 2008 in Gurgaon, Haryana has once again brought into focus the issue of easily availability of gun licenses in the state. The spread of money because of booming realty and also to make a show of it during public functions has been picking up in Gurgaon, Haryana. The government looks helpless as aspirants manage to get licenses using money, muscle power and political clout.

3. Strategies for National Regulation of SALW The district administration of Gurgaon issued 651 individual gun licenses in 2006-2007 against 156 licenses in 2005. The number of gun incidents during marriage parties is also on the rise and a couple of youth have lost their lives. The Haryana Government has blamed the deteriorating social values and not the government's slackness in issuing government licenses. In some parts of India a locally made gun can be bought for US$ 6-10 and it is also available for rent for US$ 2 a day.

4. Strategies for National Regulation of SALW There are 1500 gun manufacturing units in Bihar according to an unofficial survey of Bihar state. In the state of UP, there are 600,000 people with licensed fire arms. The capital of UP has 27000 licensed guns and a double of that with illegal sources of the underworld. In Nepal and Sri Lanka more that 50% of firearms with the non-state actor have actually come from pilferages of the State stockpiles.

5. Strategies for National Regulation of SALW In Nepal it is alleged that people earlier took to guns for security and crime but the Maoists insurgency has taken up arms because of poverty. If there was a provision for more employment the problem would reduce says Under Secretary, Government of Nepal, G. Himire. Pakistan was the largest beneficiary of the Afghan pipeline. In Darra Adamkhel there are 2600 arms shops and 5 gun factories. This region alone provides employment for 400,000 people in the Arms trade. In Sri Lanka besides the theatre of conflict in the North and East, there are more than 50,000 Army deserters who have joined the underworld gangs with their guns.

6. UNPOA: Guidance to Member states Mostly an obligation of the Government Clauses relate to Supply and Demand side of the Small Arms Proliferation National Coordination Point National Commission on Small Arms Encourages efforts to prevent small arms proliferation at the regional level. Unless there are regional regulations, national regulations will not work.

7. UNPOA: At the National level it was agreed to put in place adequate laws, regulations and administrative procedures in order to exercise effective control over the Production, Export, Import, Transit or Retransfer of SALW Laws concerning Possession, Stockpiling and Trade of such weapons were required to prevent proliferation of SALW Concerning Trafficking, circulation, brokering(registration), tracing, finance, collection and destruction Appropriate and Reliable Markings, accurate records to trace the weapons and authenticated end user certificate

8. UNPOA: To ensure that all confiscated SALW are destroyed To develop and implement, where possible effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program At the regional level, the POA has agreed to establish where appropriate, sub-regional or regional mechanism, in particular trans-border customs cooperation and network for information sharing among law enforcement, border and customs control organizations Point of contact within the regional Moratoria or similar initiatives in affected regional organization

9. Follow up 83 states have set up National Coordination Mechanism 133 National points of contact 103 National Reports

10. National regulations still to address the following areas: I Security Sector Reform: -Police Training -Stockpile Management -Disposal of Weapons -Skill in the area of crime detection

11. National regulations still to address the following areas: II Control of SALW -sharing of info on cross border trafficking -Enable setting up a registry for Arms Brokers -Guidance on licensing of Guns -Marking and Tracing of Guns -Setting up a data base to monitor the proliferation of SALW -Amend National regulations, Small Arms Legislations.

12. National regulations still to address the following areas: III Human Security: -Long- Term Planning of infrastructure development 5 year plans -Equitable distribution of resources among the Districts through dialogue -Local governance and Federalism as the principle of Governance

13. Review of Small Arms Legislation in South Asia The small arms legislations in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have significant commonalities due to the existence of a common legislative history as a result of the colonial past. The Arms Act of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan have brought in a few amendments to the 1878 Act with the change of social and cultural advances made in each country. The Arms Act of 1878 set the parameters for manufacture, sale and ownership as well as the import and export of arms.

14. Review of Small Arms Legislation in South Asia There have been no changes to the Bangladesh Arms Act of 1878 even after the formation of the Republic in 1971. In India the Arms Act was amended in 1959 as India Arms Act 1959. It emphasizes licenses for possession, manufacture, conversion, import, export and marking of fire arms. Section 13 of the Arms Act on granting of licenses is quite ambiguous to read: "An application for the grant of licenses shall be made to the licensing authority and shall be in such form, contain such particulars and be accompanied by such fee if any may be prescribed."

15. Review of Small Arms Legislation in South Asia In Nepal in 1962 the Government enacted an Arms and Ammunition Act which was very strict about fire arms possession by the general public. The significant feature of the Nepal Arms Act is that the section 5A has prohibition to move holding arms during the period of elections. This refers to the date of registration of the candidate to seven days after the declaration of election. Acquiring licenses under the Act requires submission of an application in prescribed form to the Chief District Officer in Nepal.

16. Review of Small Arms Legislation in South Asia Pakistan Arms Ordinance Act 1965 is similar to the British Arms Act of 1878. Sri Lanka Fire Arms Ordinance No.33 of 1916 saw several amendments including the last Fire Arms (Amendment) Act, No.22 of 1996. Interestingly the Ordinance does not define fire arms. It has a provision in Section 19 for manufacturers to keep registers. On a comparative analysis the five countries in South Asia already have regulations with regard to import, export, transport, domestic manufacture, conversion, sale, licensing, seizure and penalties.

17. Review of Small Arms Legislation in South Asia National legislation in South Asia does not address the issue of brokering whereas the UNPOA in Section 2/14 clearly stipulates this. With the exception of Sri Lanka and India, the other three countries do not specifically address the marking of each and every fire arms that are manufactured. UNPOA section II, 7,8 and 10 stipulate this. In Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka there are no provisions for record keeping.

18. Conclusion: Therefore there is greater need in South Asia to focus on amending National Fire Arms Act in line with the UNPOA and the changes subsequently. Civil societies have done tremendous work in terms of bringing awareness, some work has also been done on addressing the demand factors. However influencing the Government on national regulations is an neglected area.