The collection of weapons already circulating is one of the greatest challenges facing policy makers. While this is especially true of illegal weapons, it can also be the case in the collection of legal weapons. The vast number of these weapons has necessitated new approaches to gun control and arms control that are voluntary and involve the local communities. VWCPs are one way in which this collection can be undertaken.

The debate surrounding these programmes as a policy tool for collecting weapons will probably not subside. The same elements that attract support are the focus of criticism. The difficulty in obtaining measurable outcomes hinders any process of evaluation or assessment as to the utility of these programmes. However, in the absence of other alternatives, they seem to be likely to continue.

This monograph has not attempted to solve the debate over the use of VWCPs. It has sought rather to present an overview of programmes that have been undertaken and to examine some of the factors behind the development and implementation of these. It remains to be seen whether VWCPs within countries will develop into more established programmes or remain the current ad hoc measures they often are. In Australia, the buy-back programme was clearly a one-off approach to a one-time problem: the collection of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. In other situations it is clear that a single collection programme will not achieve all the organisers wish for and will be met with public demand for an on-going programme. This has clearly been the case in El Salvador.

The third option is to use VWCPs as 'kick-off' events for longer-term, more comprehensive approaches to firearm-related issues, as was done in Oakland, California. It is this approach which appears the most likely to succeed. As has been seen in other problem areas, such as drug enforcement or arms smuggling, for instance, addressing only one aspect of the problem, drug users or arms traffickers, does not achieve the desired result. It seems that the need for a multifaceted approach to modern security problems, in which there is a multi-disciplinary study of the issue, is as necessary in addressing gun-related events.

The utility of VWCPs lies in that their approach to firearms incorporates multiple actors and organisations, drawing attention to issues that people give little thought to including firearms possession, whether the owner still needs or wants the firearm and, if the option were available, whether the owner would choose to dispose of the firearm. However, by their very nature, VWPCs leave many issues untouched and many questions unanswered. This is where other programmes become valuable: education, awareness and policy interventions, including enforcement of existing legislation and stricter penalties for non-compliance. However the utility of a voluntary weapons collection programme under the right circumstances and with the proper design should not be underestimated.

ENDNOTES

A Karp, The Arms Trade Revolution: The Major Impact of Small Arms, Washington Quarterly, 17(4), p. 73.



C Smith, Light Weapons - The Forgotten Dimension of the International Arms Trade, in Brassey's Defence Yearbook 1994, Centre for Defence Studies, London, 1994, p. 282.



R T Naylor, The Rise of the Modern Arms Black Market and the Fall of Supply-Side Control, in V Gamba (ed.), Society under Siege: Crime, Violence and Illegal Weapons, TCP Series, volume one, Halfway House, South Africa, 1997, p. 69



C Smith, Light Weapons, op. cit.



E Laurance, Coping with Small Arms and Light Weapons in Post-Cold War Conflicts, paper prepared for the Third Annual Conference on Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 12 December 1996, p. 25.



E Laurance, Project Status Report: The Emergence of Voluntary Weapons Collection Programs as a Policy Alternative, Program for Arms Control, Disarmament and Conversion, Monterey, CA, 1996 (Electronic version: http://cns.miis.edu/pacdc), p. 2 (hereafter referred to as Project Status Report).



E Laurance, Project Status Report, op. cit.



E Laurance, The New Field of Microdisarmament: Addressing the Proliferation and Buildup of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Bonn International Centre for Conversion, Bonn, September 1996, p. 82 (hereafter referred to as The New Field).



G Kleck, Nothing Succeeds Like Failure, in Under Fire: Gun Buy-Backs, Exchanges and Amnesty Programs, Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, D.C., 1996, p. 30 (hereafter referred to as Under Fire).



R Rosenfeld, Gun Buy-Backs: Crime Control or Community Mobilization?, in Under Fire op. cit., p. 1.



Ibid., p. 22.



Ibid.



D Kennedy et al, Gun Buy-Backs: Where Do We Stand and Where Do We Go?, Under Fire, op. cit., p 142.



E Laurance, Gun-Reduction Programs As a Policy Alternative: Issues for Research, Planning and Evaluation, in Under Fire, op. cit., p. 60.



E Laurance, Project Status Report, op. cit., p. 4.



Ibid., p. 143.



There is debate around this point, for while the banned semi-automatic firearms will no longer be legal, it has been suggested that many participants used the money they received to purchase new, legal firearms. See Australia Turns in 600 000 Firearms, Associated Press, 1 October 1997 (Internet edition: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/indexNews.html.).



M Romero, G Wintemute and J Vernick, Reduction in Prevalence of Risk Factors for Firearm Violence among Participants in a Gun Amnesty Programme, unpublished report, Davis, CA, 1995.



R Rosenfeld, op. cit., p. 21.



G Kleck, op. cit.



Ibid., p. 31.



Ibid., pp. 40-41. See also D Kennedy et al., op. cit.



R Rosenfeld, op. cit., pp. 15-21.



J Wright and P Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms, Aldine, New York, 1986.



D Kennedy et al., op cit., p. 158.



G Kleck, op. cit., p. 43.



Ibid, p. 36.



Presentation made by A Vines at the ISS Conference on Comparative Regional Security, Midrand, South Africa, 1-3 July, 1997.



D Kennedy et al., op. cit., pp. 164-165.



C Smith, P Batchelor and J Potgieter, Small Arms Management and Peacekeeping in Southern Africa, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Geneva, 1996, p. 34.



O Njaguna, Mozambican Church Embarks on Demilitarization Programme, Africa News Online, 19 May 1997 (Internet edition).



Ibid.



M Chachiua, Arms Flows in Mozambique in The Status of Arms Flows in Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, Institute for Security Studies, Halfway House, South Africa (forthcoming 1998).



G Oosthuysen, Small Arms Proliferation and Control in Southern Africa, South African Institute of International Affairs, 1996, p. 50.



Gun-Free South Africa promotional literature, Johannesburg, 1994.



P Storey, Gun Amnesties Need Not Fail, Gun-Free South Africa archives.



This section draws on research done by Neil O'Connor, Edward Laurance, Sarah Meek and Julie Conroy of the Programme for Arms Control, Disarmament and Conversion, at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.



P Wrobel, Managing Arms During Peace Processes: Nicaragua and El Salvador, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Geneva, 1997, p. 20.



E Laurance, The New Field, op. cit., p. 85.



Ibid.



Ibid.



For a complete discussion of the disarmament activities conducted under the Multinational Force, see M Mendiburu and S Meek, Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Haiti, United Nations Institute of Disarmament Research, Geneva, 1997.



E Laurance, The New Field, op. cit., p. 84.



E Laurance, Coping with Small Arms, op. cit., p. 27.



Ibid.



E Laurance, The New Field, op. cit., p. 60.



P Wrobel, Managing Arms during Peace Processes, op. cit., p. 141.



Most Australian gun owners have handed in guns, Reuters, 26 August 1997 (Internet edition).



Correspondence between the author and Mr Darryl Smeaton, Director, Office of Law Enforcement Coordination, Canberra, Australia, March 1997.



J Brazil and S Berry, Australia's Answer to Carnage: a Strict Law, Los Angeles Times, 27 August 1997 (Internet edition).



T Cunningham, Disarming Gun Owners Swap for Computers, The Oakland Tribune, 22 October 1995, p. C3.



Oakland Police Department promotional material.



D Poritz and J Mulvihill, Voluntary Firearms Surrender: Project Guidelines, New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, New Jersey, March 1994, p. 3.



Ibid., p. 2.



An example of the latter is Australia, which levied a 0,2 per cent increase on Medicare for 1996/1997. This levy raised an estimated Aus $500 million for the programme.



T Cunningham, op. cit.; and Oakland Police Department Beat Health Unit promotional material.

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