Legislation
The review of the firearm legislation and related regulations is fundamental to the management of small arms, ammunition and explosives in any country. In some countries there is a need to start the drafting of the firearm legislation from scratch, and in other countries the existing legislation might only require amendments. Following the approval of the national policy, the firearm legislation and regulations needs to be reviewed to ensure that there are no conflicts with the policy. Usually the national policy is generated prior to the national legislation so that the former can lead the latter. Procedurally, this is the best practice for the development of the legislation to provide the framework parameters to guide decision making on the legislation.
The initial procedural requirement is the establishment of a legislation drafting committee. Usually this committee is multi-sectoral and in some cases comprises of both governmental and non-governmental experts. A series of drafting workshops are conducted to provide the platform for reviewing the firearm legislations and regulations. At certain moments, public hearings, submissions and consultations are conducted. These consultations vary according to the extent of consultation of the public in the drafting of the policy.
At the stage of implementation of the national firearm legislation and the regulations there is a need to review the policy and make amendments to the legislation, and provision for this review needs to be factored in. It is widely recognised that as the implementation of the legislation occurs, a need for amending the policy might become evident. For example, it is expected that the firearm legislation would impact on the socio-economic situation in a country, and these impacts need to be assessed to integrate into the policy.
Monitoring of progress towards the implementation of firearm legislation is a fundamental activity. A continual review of the progress on the implementation of the firearm legislation is a prerequisite. Often a timetable for implementation assists in those countries which lack national action plans. The firearm legislation, regulations and policy need to be reviewed especially in light of updating it in terms of the operational experiences, and in terms of the socio-economic impacts of the policy.
to top
home
search