PAN AMERICAN SCHOOL 10TH ANNUAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS

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2 PAN AMERICAN SCHOOL 10TH ANNUAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS February 23 rd, 24 th, and 25 th Natalia Tellez Secretary General Jose Luis Herrera Director General Miranda Silva Crisis Director Valeria Villafranca Subsecretary of Commitees Rafael Paredes Chief of Crisis Paola Froto Subsecretary of Affairs Dear Delegates, Welcome to PASMUN 2017! We are honored to have you participate at our 10th Annual Model United Nations. Our secretariat, chairs and staff have been working to give you one of the best simulations you will ever experience. During these three days you will have the opportunity to deal with international issues which will improve your skills, flourish your leadership, will promote teamwork and will make you have a different way of viewing the world we live in. You will also get to know new people, since this is an event created by students for students. We encourage you to challenge your abilities in all the possible ways before, during and after the event. We hope you give your best in this simulation and take the most advantage of it. This year, since we still have faith in humanity, we are trying to inspire you in order for you to inspire others to be the change! We are beyond excited to have you in our event! Sincerely, Pablo Navarro Subsecretary of Technology 1 Natalia Tellez Secretary General

3 Committee: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Director: José Araiza Moderator: María Fernanda Arredondo Topic B: Overviewing the Personal Gun Possession I. Committee Background UNODC is a worldwide leader in the fight against illegal drugs and international crimes. It was created in 1997 through a merge between United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Center for International Crime Prevention. UNODC is currently operating in all regions of the world through a big network of field offices. UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from the Governments of the state parties (90% of its budget). UNODC has the obligation to assist Member States that struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. The areas that UNODC addresses are: organized crime and trafficking, corruption, crime prevention and criminal justice reform, the prevention of drug abuse and the enhancement of health, and the prevention terrorism attacks. UNODC s three working pillars are: 1) Field-based technical cooperation projects to increase the amount of Members States that counter illicit drugs, crimes and terrorism. 2) Analyze and research of work to increase knowledge and understanding of drugs and crimes issues and to expand the evidence base for policy and operational decisions. 3) Normative work to help States to approve and implement relevant international treaties, development of domestic legislation on drugs, crimes and terrorism, and to supply the secretariat and substantive services to treaty-based and governing bodies. II. Statement of the Problem Guns are used to kill about 1000 people every day. Millions of people are wounded because of guns. There are about 875 million firearms in the world, and 75% of them are in hands of the civilians. Guns outnumber passenger vehicles by 2

4 253 million (29%). Each year about eight million guns are created, and billion ammunition is manufactured. This is enough ammunition to shoot every people in the world twice. One of the main issues at stake to address while overviewing personal gun possession is gun control. Gun control has made a greater impact when it is in the perspective of law and legislation. Gun control is defined as the laws that control how that guns are sold and used and who can own them. Some countries that have the toughest gun control laws are: Mexico, Tunisia, the United States of America, and Japan (with license you can have one). This demands the United Nation s attention since many people have been killed because of countries do not have gun control and as a consequence of selling personal guns in illegal markets. Gun control is essential to live in a world without crimes, but short term and long-term solutions are necessary to fulfill the United Nation s mandate, clearly stated on its Charter: to maintain international peace and security. III. Topic Information A. History of the Topic: The United Nations aims at maintaining international peace and security. While the prevention of large-scale conflict, such as wars, is imperative, conflicts with such magnitude are not the general rule. To put the facts into perspective: 1) In 2010, 31,076 persons were killed as a consequence of personal firearms in the United States. 2) Between , 58,000 American soldiers were killed in the Vietnam Wars. As can be seen, it is rather astonishing that more than half the persons killed in a 20-year armed conflict were killed in one year as a consequence of personal gun possession. Though the possession of personal firearms is an issue that concerns every country, the United States of America faces this problem on a rather large 3

5 scale. This is a consequence of their Second Amendment, which grants civilians the constitutional right to bear arms. The history of the topic in this particular country will be discussed so as to understand the two major views that prevail on the topic. However, delegates should keep in mind that the history of this topic depends on the general history of their country. Personal gun possession is influenced by social, political, economical, and cultural factors. The control of gun possession has been a political issue that started all the way back when the National Rifle Association (NRA) was created. When the NRA was created, their mission was to train Union Soldiers so they had better rifle skills. The first confrontation regarding gun control was when New York opposed having the NRA s practices in their state (the NRA opposes gun control in USA). After this, they simply created facilities in New Jersey. The NRA still exists and it is one of the mayor organizations against of Gun Control. Gun control has been an issue that has been strongly battled between two perspectives: those who support gun control, and those who support gun rights. Today, there are many gun control laws and regulations and those called pro gunners are constantly battling fewer laws and repeal to further motion to create new one. The UN has contributed a lot with this topic, mainly preventing illegal gun trafficking; they have made many international treaties, such as the UN Arms Trade Treaty, the UN Small Arms Programme for Action and the UN Register for Conventional Weapons. These mechanisms will be addressed further on in the Background Guide. B. Current Issues: The main issue in this topic is that not all the people support gun control: some are against it. Reasons vary, but most of them involve the need to feel protected; in other words, some people and States believe that the possession of personal guns 4

6 is necessary for personal defense. As stated previously, if a country does not have gun control, there are more crimes and murders. Some recent cases are: 1. Orlando, Florida: The event was a fatal shooting in a nightclub on June 12, The gunman in Orlando was called Omar Mateen, he was armed with a handgun and an assault rifle. Mateen killed 49 people and he injured 53; the police then killed him. This is the deadliest attack made by a single shooter in all USA history. 2. Paris, France:. Bombs and shootings killed at least 128 people. Of the 128 people that died, 80 people died in the Bataclan (a theater). The terrorists shot at them for about 15 minutes. 3. Ivory Coast: Ivory Coast has also suffered a gun attack. The attackers fired on a beach in Grand Bassam (a state in Ivory Coast) where 16 people were killed. 4. Munich, Germany: In July 22, 2016, a German teenager of Iranian heritage killed 9 people in Munich with a gun and then he shot himself. 5. Middle East: A Palestinian gunman he was driving a car while he was shooting to innocent civilians in Israel. He killed 2 Israelis and after that he as killed by the police. 6. Tunisia: There was also an attack in Tunisia in a museum, in which some armed terrorist shot at the people and killed 25 people. The police killed the two attackers after the events, but they still killed and wounded many people. C. United Nations Actions: The UN made a treaty called UN Arms Trade Treaty. The treaty states that each state party shall establish and maintain a national control system, including a national control list, and it also says that each state party is encouraged to include some records, which are: the quantity, model and type. In 2001, the UN created a program called the UN Small Arms Programme of Action (UNPoA). This program is for regulating small arms transferring and brokering activities; criminalizing the 5

7 illegal manufacture, possession, stockpiling and trade of small arms and lightweapons; ensuring that weapons are marked and registered; enforcing guns embargoes; destroying surplus and confiscate weapons; raising public awareness; and implementing disbarment, demobilization, and reintegration programs. The UN Register for Conventional Weapons is also a UN mechanism, to which some countries report. It is an important mean to tackle the issue, since it gives practice to the concept of transparency in armament commerce. Transparency in the commerce of arms can help determine if excessive trafficking of guns is taking place. Being open about armament may encourage stopping the transfer or productions of guns. IV. Conclusion In conclusion, the mayor problem to address is persuading the groups and organizations that oppose gun control about its advantages. There are several ways to solve this problem. Amongst the proposed solutions, one is to try to convince the people that are against gun control by organizing summits on recent events in some countries, ad in Orlando, Ivory Coast, etc. The victims and their families should be invited to share their experience, and experts on the topic must participate. The summits must include organizations such as the NRA, to try to convince them that having gun control will prevent these attacks. Gun control has made a greater impact when it is included in the agenda of internal legislations, so what the countries can do is to reinforce, and hen necessary, make new laws. Another way to tackle this issue is to implement the systems in countries that need it, and also propose sanctions against the people against the people who are selling the guns to criminal organizations (as a reference, take the situation with the Islamic State). A big organization currently helping worldwide is called Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. This organization seeks to secure freedom from gun violence through research, strategy, and effective policy advocacy. There are 47 nations currently working n tis organization. Membership to this organization or creation of new one can be a plausible suggestion. 6

8 Furthermore, creating and improving existing databases and the granting of licenses for the possession of personal guns can be suggested. If a person violates the license system, the sanction should be proportionate and aimed at discouraging incompliance. This will make easier to have gun control, because the countries can know which people have guns and the types of guns. V. Essential Questions 1. Has your country done something to have gun control in its country? If so, what has it done? 2. Does your country have an intergovernmental or non-governmental organization? If so, what is the name of this organization? 3. Is your country currently battling against an organization that is against gun control? 4. Has the lack of gun control affected your country? 5. How has the lack of gun control been affecting your country? 6. What does your delegation think about this problem, and how does it plan to solve it? 7. How many people have been killed because of the lack of gun control in your country? 8. Have your solutions been implemented in other countries? If so, did they work? VI. Bibliographies unodc org recovered from laws recovered from 7

9 open secret org recovered from bbc recovered from cnn recovered from bbc recovered from great nonprofits recovered from organizations-making-progress-towards-gun-control/ U.S. News recovered from pew research center recovered from just facts recovered from Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence recovered from 8