Gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians.
Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, but have strong firearms laws to prevent misuse or violence. They typically restrict ownership of firearms with certain characteristics, and require a mandatory gun safety course and firearms license to own a gun.
Only a few countries, such as Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and the United States are considered permissive jurisdictions.
In some countries, such as Australia or the United States, measures can be implemented at the national, state, or local levels. Countries like the United States and Mexico have constitutionally protected gun rights.
Terminology and context
Gun control refers to domestic and international attempts to regulate, and harmonize the regulation of, the private and industrial manufacture, trade, possession, use, and transport of a class of weapons typically identified as small arms. This class of arms commonly includes revolvers, self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, assault rifles, and some categories of machine gun.In the United States, the term gun control itself is considered polarizing and politicized. Many gun control advocates prefer the use of terms like "gun-violence prevention", "gun safety", or "common-sense regulation" to describe their objectives. Discussions on the topics of gun control and gun rights are more prevalent in the United States than other countries, although these topics are also debated in countries such as Canada.
Regulation of civilian firearms
With few exceptions, most countries in the world allow some form of civilian firearm ownership. A 2011 survey of 28 countries over five continents found that a major distinction between different national gun control regimes is whether civilian gun ownership is seen as a right or a privilege.The study concluded that both the United States and Yemen were distinct from the other countries surveyed in that they viewed gun ownership as a basic right of citizenship, and therefore their gun control policies are more permissive. In the remaining countries sampled, civilian gun ownership is considered a privilege and their corresponding gun control policies are more restrictive.For many countries who don't have gun ownership as a right but as a privilege, Gun rights, such as the extent in the United States, might often be seen as too permissive.
Some countries like in East Asia can be particularly strict. East Asian countries are usually more indifferent to gun control and gun rights debate. Countries like Japan and China enact strict controls on gun ownership. Others East Asian countries or South East Asian countries can be especially strict, a few with more extreme punishments then typically by most countries for the same crime. Indonesian Illegal gun ownership can be punished from a maximum of 20 years in prison to life in prison or the death penalty.
For almost all Europe, most countries gun ownership extends to hunting and sport, and require licensure with backgrounds checks.
International and regional gun control
At the international and regional level, diplomatic attention has tended to focus on the cross-border illegal trade in small arms as an area of particular concern rather than the regulation of civilian-held firearms. During the mid-1990s, however, the United Nations Economic and Social Council adopted a series of resolutions relating to the civilian ownership of small arms. These called for an exchange of data on national systems of firearm regulation and for the initiation of an international study of the issue. In July 1997, ECOSOC issued a resolution that underlined the responsibility of UN member states to competently regulate civilian ownership of small arms and which urged them to ensure that their regulatory frameworks encompassed the following aspects: firearm safety and storage; penalties for the unlawful possession and misuse of firearms; a licensing system to prevent undesirable persons from owning firearms; exemption from criminal liability to promote the surrender by citizens of illegal, unsafe or unwanted guns; and, a record-keeping system to track civilian firearms.In 1997, the UN published a study based on member state survey data titled the United Nations International Study on Firearm Regulation which was updated in 1999. This study was meant to initiate the establishment of a database on civilian firearm regulations which would be run by the Centre for International Crime Prevention, located in Vienna, who were to report on national systems of civilian firearm regulation every two years. These plans never reached fruition and further UN-led efforts to establish international norms for the regulation of civilian-held firearms were stymied. Responding to pressure from the U.S. government, any mention of the regulation of civilian ownership of small arms was removed from the draft proposals for the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Although the issue is no longer part of the UN policy debate, since 1991 there have been eight regional agreements involving 110 countries concerning aspects of civilian firearm possession. The Bamako Declaration, was adopted in Bamako, Mali, on 1 December 2000 by the representatives of the member states of the Organisation of African Unity. The provisions of this declaration recommend that the signatories would establish the illegal possession of small arms and light weapons as a criminal offence under national law in their respective countries. UN conducted another study in 2011 and found after identifying a number of methodological problems in studies, it stated "not withstanding such challenges, a significant body of literature tends to suggest that firearm availability predominantly represents a risk factor rather than a protective factor for homicide. In particular, a number of quantitative studies tend towards demonstrating a firearm prevalence–homicide association."
Historical context
Countries always had some form of concern for armed civilians in history. In more recent years, calls for gun control grew as school shootings risen. High rates of gun mortality and injury are often cited as a primary impetus for gun control policies.In 2007, a global supply of 875 million small arms were estimated to be in the hands of civilians, law enforcement agencies, and national armed forces. Of these firearms, 650 million, or 75%, were estimated to be held by civilians. U.S. civilians account for 270 million of this total. A further 200 million are controlled by national military forces. Law enforcement agencies may have some 26 million small arms. Non-state armed groups have about 1.4 million firearms. Finally, gang members hold between 2 and 10 million small arms. Together, the small arms arsenals of non-state armed groups and gangs have been estimated to account for, at most, 1.4% of the global total.
United States
The United States has more guns per citizen than any other western country. In the United States, gun rights activists argue gun laws are too restrictive or should not be altered, and gun control activists argue gun laws are too permissive. Both camps center their arguments upon the legal and traditional interpretations of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Gun control measures include the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 that prohibited manufacturing certain semi-automatic firearms that were defined as assault weapons for civilian use. The act expired ten years after its effective date, and thus the act expired in 2004. Attempted measures included the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 bill, which was not passed into law.Canada
In Canada, The Canadian Criminal Code, enacted in 1892, required individuals to have a permit to carry a pistol unless the owner had cause to fear assault or injury. Handgun registration became law in 1934, and automatic firearms registration was added in 1951, then the Criminal Law Amendment Act, Then In 1977, Bill C-51 required firearms acquisition certificates to purchase any firearm.On May 1, 2020, after deadly shootings in Nova Scotia, Justin Trudeau's Liberal government banned 1,500 kinds of military-style semi-automatic rifles, including the popular AR-15 and its variants. The ban was enacted via an Order In Council.
Then on October 21, 2022, under Justin Trudeau's government, Bill C-21 came into effect, aiming to address gun violence and strengthen gun control. The legislation introduced a national freeze on the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns by individuals within Canada. It also established new "red flag" and "yellow flag" laws, allowing courts and Chief Firearms Officers to issue emergency weapons prohibition orders and temporarily suspend licenses, respectively. Moreover, the bill increased maximum penalties for firearms-related offenses, including gun smuggling and gun trafficking, from 10 to 14 years imprisonment. Additionally, Bill C-21 prohibited mid-velocity 'replica' airguns that closely resemble real firearms and discharge projectiles at a velocity between 366 and 500 feet per second.