Legal Frameworks

In many ways, the production, ownership and transfer of firearms is regulated in the same way as the production, ownership and transfer of any other commodity, but the regulations have always been tighter when concerning firearms.  Earlier in this book, we saw that both the legal and illicit manufacturing, acquisition, trafficking and criminal misuse all physically take place on the soil of a sovereign State. This means that that State must develop regulations and laws designed to prevent or reduce these illicit activities. Modern national legal frameworks are constructed under the umbrella of different extra-national legislative measures that have been developed to prevent and reduce illicit activities involving firearms. However, as this chapter will demonstrate, these instruments are generally of a guiding nature, and will not be successful unless States implement the regulations and policies agreed to in the instruments. The chapter will discuss the development of these supra-national frameworks, and consider how States develop these regulations and measures. It will cover elements such as stockpile management, purchasing and ownership restrictions, law enforcement and standards on collecting and destroying firearms. For reach of the supranational elements, examples will be given of how these are put into place at a national level.