Firearms Legislation Outcome of Capacity-Building Course  

             UN-LiREC’s Parliamentary Exchange Initiative (PEI) offered a five day capacity -building course to members of parliament and related entities in the Latin America and Caribbean region on how to draft legal firearms proposals. Topics included practical tools for drafting firearms legislation; importance of incorporating the issues of gender, children and adolescents in the formulation of national legislation; implementation of international firearms instruments; and identification of actors and/or institutions involved in controlling firearms, ammunition and explosives trade.

            The objective of the course was to raise awareness among parliamentary advisors, governmental officials, the diplomatic community and civil society in the region on how to develop legislative programmes, policies and institutions which successfully assist in the control of firearms, ammunition and explosives. This course is among the first in a series of activities of the recently created Regional Public Security Training Centre in Brasilia.

             The PEI is a project that serves as a platform for members of parliament and related entities to discuss national and international firearms' instruments with a view to exploring possibilities of improving control over the legal firearms trade and curbing illegal firearms trafficking.