Books by Philip Alpers
With support from the United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UN... more With support from the United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR), our work has focused on applying global arms control instruments-the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the United Nations small arms Programme of Action (UNPoA)predominantly in Southeast Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean. We provide states with full-scope support to enable them to understand the technical requirements of international arms control instruments, to incorporate their provisions in national policies and legal frameworks and to implement compatible local arms control systems. CAVR also hosts the Secretariat of the Pacific Small Arms Action Group (PSAAG), a network of civil society organisations in Oceania which acts as regional coordinator for Control Arms and supports linked global systems such as the Arms Trade Treaty-Baseline Assessment Project (ATT-BAP) and the International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS). The Centre for Armed Violence Reduction is a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), ABN 62 161 762 778.
The Centre for Armed Violence Reduction (CAVR) focuses on preventing the flow of illicit conventi... more The Centre for Armed Violence Reduction (CAVR) focuses on preventing the flow of illicit conventional arms. This is the second edition of our Implementation Guide for the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the UN Small Arms Programme of Action (UNPoA). Launched at the United Nations in New York, the Guide is used around the world at international meetings and distributed to government officials. Our aim is to help governments develop an effective interagency coordinating mechanism, to adopt the Arms Trade Treaty and to speed implementation of the UNPoA.
The rate at which states adopted the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) surprised even its sponsors. Yet the... more The rate at which states adopted the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) surprised even its sponsors. Yet the treaty is often misunderstood and misrepresented – by some, mistrusted. Facts and answers can be found in a variety of sources, but until now the treaty lacked a compendium. The full breadth of advantages offered by the ATT, plus an accessible description of how it works had not been assembled in a single, thoroughly referenced source.
To refresh the ATT story, the Centre for Armed Violence Reduction and the Government of Australia offer the publication 'Reinvigorating the Narrative: The Broader Benefits of the Arms Trade Treaty'.
Summary booklets are available in Spanish, French and English.
In the volatile Southern Highlands Province (SHP) of Papua New Guinea (PNG), approximately 2,450 ... more In the volatile Southern Highlands Province (SHP) of Papua New Guinea (PNG), approximately 2,450 factory-made firearms are held by private owners. These include between 500 and 1,040 high-powered weapons, most of which are assault rifles. Very few of the guns in SHP were smuggled from foreign countries. Instead, police and soldiers within PNG supplied the most destructive firearms used in crime and conflict.
This study examines a wide range of small arms-related issues in 20 nations of the southern Pacif... more This study examines a wide range of small arms-related issues in 20 nations of the southern Pacific. It
investigates the status of existing firearm legislation, the extent of legal stockpiles and illicit trade, and
the socio-economic impacts of armed conflict on Pacific communities. Case histories examine more
closely the disarmament process in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands, along with the widespread
disruption wrought with small arms in Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Current initiatives to combat small
arms trafficking in the region are also examined.
Book Chapters by Philip Alpers
Washington University Journal of Law & Policy: 60 Wash. U. J. L. & Pol’y 255, 2019
This article argues that historical lessons in gun control point the way to potential improvement... more This article argues that historical lessons in gun control point the way to potential improvements in U.S. gun control in the future. The article begins by examining Australia’s response to the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, where the country acted quickly to ban certain weapons under the leadership of a conservative prime minister. Having had eleven mass shootings in the decade before the ban, Australia had zero in the two decades after. The article notes that similar programs were proposed in America by President Franklin Roosevelt, among others, and argues that they are likely to be enacted within the next generation or two.
Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand, 2019
Australian firearm policy had altered very little in 65 years prior to the 1990s. The events in A... more Australian firearm policy had altered very little in 65 years prior to the 1990s. The events in April 1996, however, precipitated 12 days that dramatically changed national firearm legislation. Thirty-five people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Port Arthur Historic Site in the state of Tasmania. This chapter explores how these events created a ‘perfect storm’ of outrage, law and leadership that forced policy reform. It considers the political and constitutional challenges the national government faced and details the swift legislative changes implemented following the massacre. With over 20 years of research and data, this chapter describes the attitude adjustments which enabled effective enforcement of firearm legislation and the notable improvements to public health and safety which followed. Although these changes are widely credited with establishing the nation as a world leader in the prevention of armed violence, unintended consequences of Australia’s gun control laws may contain the seed of their own destruction.
In: Webster, Daniel W and Jon S Vernick, Eds. Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis ( Download E-book: http://jhupress.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1421411113_updf.pdf ), Jan 25, 2013
The Australian experience, catalyzed by 35 deaths in a single shooting spree, marked a national s... more The Australian experience, catalyzed by 35 deaths in a single shooting spree, marked a national sea change in attitudes, both to firearms and to those who own them. Led by a conservative government, Australians saw that, beliefs and fears aside, death and injury by gunshot could be as amenable to public health intervention as were motor vehicle–related deaths, drunk driving, tobacco-related disease, and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The obstructions to firearm injury prevention are nothing new to public health. An industry and its self-interest groups focused on denial, the propagation of fear, and quasi-religious objections—we’ve seen it all before. But with gun violence, as with HIV/AIDS, waste-of-time notions such as evil, blame, and retribution can with time be sluiced away to allow long-proven public health procedures.
Given the opportunity and the effort, gun injury prevention can save lives as effectively as restricting access to rocket-propelled grenades and explosives or mandating child-safe lids on bottles of poison.
In: Karp, Aaron, Ed. Inconspicuous Disarmament: The Politics of Destroying Surplus Small Arms and Ammunition, Apr 2008
Faced with continuing thefts of small arms and ammunition from state armouries, followed by surgi... more Faced with continuing thefts of small arms and ammunition from state armouries, followed by surging gun violence and social disruption, Papua New Guinea (PNG) destroyed more than a third of its remaining military firearms. Although on a world scale the numbers were small, this disposal of surplus military small arms by the largest developing nation in the Pacific is shown to have been markedly successful in both implementation and effect. The five-year disposal process was encouraged by catalytic events, simultaneous rationalization of the PNG defence force, key individuals acting as persistent agents of change, and a foreign donor government providing encouragement, financing, and logistic support. Small arms disposal was not conducted in isolation, but as an integral component of a simultaneous, and much wider, rationalization of all assets of the PNG Defence Force. Despite this, political sensitivity remains high. Neither key party to the rationalization of the PNG defence force wishes to publicly acknowledge that Australia, Papua New Guinea's former colonial overseer and even now the holder of crucial purse strings, was instrumental in halving the nation's stockpile of military small arms.
Gun-running in Papua New Guinea: From Arrows to Assault Weapons
In: Henderson, John and Greg Watson (Eds). Securing a Peaceful Pacific, Dec 2005
In: Small Arms Survey 2004: Rights at Risk, Jul 2004
Recent events in the Pacific offer clear lessons, both in success and failure. Innovative links b... more Recent events in the Pacific offer clear lessons, both in success and failure. Innovative links between disarmament and national aspirations for autonomy, clear-cut contrasts between weapon collection methods deployed in adjacent island communities, the ‘good neighbour’ traditions of the region, and relative transparency of information all combine to provide a small laboratory of ideas and examples.
Pacific nations are no strangers to small arms. During the Second World War, island states in the region were home to thousands of armed troops, and suffered many bloody conflicts. More recently, small arms have reappeared as vectors of human rights abuse, death, and injury in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and even Australia.
Unlike its neighbours in South-east and South Asia, the region is not afflicted with large-scale trafficking. Yet the Pacific experience demonstrates how deeply even a small number of small arms can damage small communities. Armed conflict and violent crime have had profound social and economic effects in the region, not least on the
prospects of young Pacific Islanders.
The line between the legal and illegal small arms trade is as blurred in the Pacific region as it is anywhere. The great majority of firearms used in violence were legally imported, then diverted to crime from civilian, military, and police holdings.
Reports by Philip Alpers
Canada: Joint Federal/Provincial Commission into the April 2020 Nova Scotia Mass Casualty, 2022
A comparative study of large-scale firearm injury prevention initiatives in five countries, inclu... more A comparative study of large-scale firearm injury prevention initiatives in five countries, including national gun buybacks, amnesties and weapon destruction programmes.
Guns and the Pacific – A Wasteful Hiccup at the United Nations Recommended
Philip Alpers from the University of Sydney writes that “five years after the adoption of the UN ... more Philip Alpers from the University of Sydney writes that “five years after the adoption of the UN Programme of Action to address the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons”, the recent UN PoA Review Conference closed “without so much as an outcome document.” A spin-off Arms Trade Treaty, argues Alpers, “could distract from more direct and localised efforts to curb gun violence.”In Pacific Islands Forum countries, “civilians alone hold 3.1 million firearms, or one gun for every ten people”, writes Alpers. “After disastrous leakages of government guns in Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, Australia led the charge to help island nations lock up their small arms, building secure state armouries across the region. But of late, regional implementation of the UN PoA has lagged.”
Four consecutive formal reports have now found that no Australian State or Territory has at any s... more Four consecutive formal reports have now found that no Australian State or Territory has at any stage fully complied with the 1996 or 2002 firearm resolutions which collectively formed the National Firearms Agreement. In important areas, State and Territory legislation has been blocked or revised to dilute the effect of the NFA. This report, commissioned and funded by Gun Control Australia, finds that on balance, both non-compliance from day one and two decades of political pressure have steadily reduced restrictions and undermined the NFA’s original intent.
Community Interviews and a Guide to Small Arms in PNG, Jun 1, 2005
In 2003-2004, the Small Arms Survey completed a series of research projects across 20 nations of ... more In 2003-2004, the Small Arms Survey completed a series of research projects across 20 nations of the southwest Pacific. One of these, a survey of the proliferation of small arms and firearm-related violence in the strife-torn Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea (Alpers, 2005), relies on a range of background information, field interviews from 19 communities, weapon descriptions and summaries of supplementary material which are not included in the published work. For the benefit of governments, donors, development agencies, NGOs and others with a stake in curbing the proliferation of small arms in Papua New Guinea, this additional information is provided here.
This paper provides background information for, and should be read as a supplement to:
Alpers, Philip. 2005. Gun-running in Papua New Guinea: From Arrows to Assault Weapons in the Southern Highlands. Special Report No. 5. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, June.
Policy Briefing, Aug 2003
There were an estimated 1,010-1,270 illegal high powered and commercial firearms in the Solomon I... more There were an estimated 1,010-1,270 illegal high powered and commercial firearms in the Solomon Islands – considerably more than the 500-700 commonly reported.
Competition Rooted in Violent Fantasy Would Pollute Olympics, Legitimize Powerful Non-Sporting We... more Competition Rooted in Violent Fantasy Would Pollute Olympics, Legitimize Powerful Non-Sporting Weapons
Combat shooting is a rehearsal for urban warfare, and a violent distortion of traditional target shooting. The Olympic movement is dedicated to non-violence, yet combat shooting would spawn the shoot-to-kill Olympics."
In New Zealand, 97% of licensed firearm owners are allowed to keep an unlimited number of guns in... more In New Zealand, 97% of licensed firearm owners are allowed to keep an unlimited number of guns in secret. The firearms held by these people – common sporting shotguns and rifles – are also the guns most often used in family violence, homicide, suicide, injury and crime.
By contrast the remaining 3% of gun owners possess weapons deemed more dangerous, namely handguns, military-style semi-automatics and machine guns. These must be individually registered by serial number to each owner. As a direct result of this careful registration, such weapons are far less commonly misused.
So the guns most often used to kill, injure and intimidate are those which are least controlled. Shotguns and rifles can be collected and kept in any quantity without the need to show a genuine reason to own them, and with no official record of the guns being kept anywhere.
Firearm registration, a system proven to work in many countries around the world, is not applied in this country to the guns which are most misused. New Zealand is now one of the very few Western countries which does not have this elementary form of control over all firearms.
Guns and a Prohibited Persons Register, Jun 1, 1997
One proposal to reduce gun-related death and injury is the establishment of a register of prohibi... more One proposal to reduce gun-related death and injury is the establishment of a register of prohibited persons – a “black list” of citizens suspected of mental instability or anti-social behaviour. These people could then be denied a firearms licence. Despite years of promotion by pro-gun lobby groups world-wide, no country or state has created such an additional register. In New Zealand, reasons for rejecting this proposal include:
- Existing registers already prevent hundreds of thousands of people from owning guns
- These could only be substantially enlarged by adding names on mere suspicion
- Such a list would unjustly stigmatise and discriminate against people with mental illness, who are no more likely than others to kill or injure another person with a gun
- Even if every person with a history of mental illness and/or violent crime was locked away, about eight in ten future gun killers would remain at large
- Such a list could encourage licensed gun owners to avoid responsibility for gun violence
- Without a register of firearms, police have no way of ensuring that a prohibited person has surrendered all his guns. Gun violence does not require a firearms licence – only a firearm
Mental Health Commission Fact Sheet, Jun 6, 1997
A typical gun homicide is committed by a licensed male gun owner with no record of violent crime ... more A typical gun homicide is committed by a licensed male gun owner with no record of violent crime or mental illness, using a legal firearm to kill someone he knows well. Australian, Canadian and New Zealand studies show alcohol is four times more likely to be a precipitating factor in homicide than mental illness. The proportion of gun killers diagnosed as mentally ill is smaller than the proportion of Australians and New Zealanders who suffer from mental illness at any given time.
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Books by Philip Alpers
To refresh the ATT story, the Centre for Armed Violence Reduction and the Government of Australia offer the publication 'Reinvigorating the Narrative: The Broader Benefits of the Arms Trade Treaty'.
Summary booklets are available in Spanish, French and English.
investigates the status of existing firearm legislation, the extent of legal stockpiles and illicit trade, and
the socio-economic impacts of armed conflict on Pacific communities. Case histories examine more
closely the disarmament process in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands, along with the widespread
disruption wrought with small arms in Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Current initiatives to combat small
arms trafficking in the region are also examined.
Book Chapters by Philip Alpers
The obstructions to firearm injury prevention are nothing new to public health. An industry and its self-interest groups focused on denial, the propagation of fear, and quasi-religious objections—we’ve seen it all before. But with gun violence, as with HIV/AIDS, waste-of-time notions such as evil, blame, and retribution can with time be sluiced away to allow long-proven public health procedures.
Given the opportunity and the effort, gun injury prevention can save lives as effectively as restricting access to rocket-propelled grenades and explosives or mandating child-safe lids on bottles of poison.
Pacific nations are no strangers to small arms. During the Second World War, island states in the region were home to thousands of armed troops, and suffered many bloody conflicts. More recently, small arms have reappeared as vectors of human rights abuse, death, and injury in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and even Australia.
Unlike its neighbours in South-east and South Asia, the region is not afflicted with large-scale trafficking. Yet the Pacific experience demonstrates how deeply even a small number of small arms can damage small communities. Armed conflict and violent crime have had profound social and economic effects in the region, not least on the
prospects of young Pacific Islanders.
The line between the legal and illegal small arms trade is as blurred in the Pacific region as it is anywhere. The great majority of firearms used in violence were legally imported, then diverted to crime from civilian, military, and police holdings.
Reports by Philip Alpers
This paper provides background information for, and should be read as a supplement to:
Alpers, Philip. 2005. Gun-running in Papua New Guinea: From Arrows to Assault Weapons in the Southern Highlands. Special Report No. 5. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, June.
Combat shooting is a rehearsal for urban warfare, and a violent distortion of traditional target shooting. The Olympic movement is dedicated to non-violence, yet combat shooting would spawn the shoot-to-kill Olympics."
By contrast the remaining 3% of gun owners possess weapons deemed more dangerous, namely handguns, military-style semi-automatics and machine guns. These must be individually registered by serial number to each owner. As a direct result of this careful registration, such weapons are far less commonly misused.
So the guns most often used to kill, injure and intimidate are those which are least controlled. Shotguns and rifles can be collected and kept in any quantity without the need to show a genuine reason to own them, and with no official record of the guns being kept anywhere.
Firearm registration, a system proven to work in many countries around the world, is not applied in this country to the guns which are most misused. New Zealand is now one of the very few Western countries which does not have this elementary form of control over all firearms.
- Existing registers already prevent hundreds of thousands of people from owning guns
- These could only be substantially enlarged by adding names on mere suspicion
- Such a list would unjustly stigmatise and discriminate against people with mental illness, who are no more likely than others to kill or injure another person with a gun
- Even if every person with a history of mental illness and/or violent crime was locked away, about eight in ten future gun killers would remain at large
- Such a list could encourage licensed gun owners to avoid responsibility for gun violence
- Without a register of firearms, police have no way of ensuring that a prohibited person has surrendered all his guns. Gun violence does not require a firearms licence – only a firearm