Weapon abuse

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As misuse of weapons in the strict sense violent crimes on the one hand with weapons - usually firearms - called, on the other hand, the disproportionate use of weapons by government security forces or legitimate civilian gun. The misuse of weapons always leads to victims (threats, injuries, death) or damage to property.

In a broader sense, anyone can as weapons misuse use of weapons against applicable national or international rights and social policies or standards are understood. The term weapon sometimes also includes objects of daily use such as B. motor vehicles or other more or less dangerous objects, but also war weapons and unconventional explosive devices and incendiary devices included. The misuse of weapons also includes the unauthorized manufacture, the unauthorized trade and the unauthorized carrying (carrying in public) of weapons. From historical, geographical, political, societal, legal and personal points of view, the term “weapon misuse” can be defined and evaluated differently. This definition is usually not so broadly taken in well-established, rule-of-law societies.

The illicit manufacture, illicit trade and illicit carrying of weapons are not considered weapons abuse in the narrower sense of the definition. In the context of this definition, the focus is mostly on firearms.

In the context of the narrow definition, the legally compliant and thus legal use of weapons such as B. in cases of self-defense or an emergency (even with illegally owned weapons) no weapon misuse. In the case of mistaken use of weapons (e.g. the shooter mistakenly assumes a self-defense situation by misunderstanding facts or misinterpretation of a situation) or if a weapon is used as a result of an accident , there is also no abuse of weapons in the narrower sense, as there is no criminal intention to use the weapon . However, some organizations count accidentally shooting a person as part of the exercise of social violence, even when there is no criminal intent.

In addition to national gun laws, u. a. The United Nations Small Arms Action Program and, on the part of the European Union, the Schengen Agreement help to reduce the risk of weapons misuse.

It is unusual to apply the term weapon misuse to the use of weapons in acts of war or in connection with terrorist attacks. When using weapons in war, the focus is on the act ( war crimes ) or the breach of international treaties .

Use of terms

In the public discourse, the term “weapon misuse” is mainly used in relation to weapons legislation. The unlawful use of weapons by the police and security forces also falls under the term “weapon misuse” in accordance with the legislation on the use of force and weapons by this group of people.

The weapons law passed in Germany in 1931 was called "Law against the misuse of weapons". In a press release from 1996, the Swiss federal government wrote that the aim of the Weapons Act was "to protect the population from the misuse of weapons". A British government report from 2000 on the Weapons Act there uses the English term "weapon abuse" in an analogous manner.

In a press release issued in 2004, Amnesty International gave the term a different color by subsuming the disproportionate use of force by police under this term.

Criminal use of firearms

Firearms ban in a Prague post office

overview

In order to make quantitative statements about the misuse of weapons, various parameters must be taken into account. These are, among other things, different gun laws and different crime rates in the light and dark field . On the other hand, massive reports on individual, spectacular cases can create an impression in society that does not match the police statistics. The implications for measures from these statistics are very controversial. The proponents and opponents of strict gun laws often come to contrary conclusions.

If only gun possession were decisive for the number of crimes involving guns or firearms, the figures (violent crimes per weapon) would have to be relatively similar internationally. However, this does not affect historical, economic, social and other contingencies that can significantly affect the extent to which they occur. Taken on its own, however, this extent could be seen as a characteristic distinguishing feature of regions and states over the course of (historical) time .

Murders per 100,000 inhabitants
(with and without weapons)

In order to weigh the extent of armed violence on a global and regional level, one needs to compare international data. It has been shown that around 200,000 people worldwide die every year if firearms are used outside the war, mostly homicides. These are most common in Latin America and the Caribbean. Here the number is five times higher than the global average. The graph opposite shows how the mortality rate is distributed across the global regions.

But the individual regions and their states are also not homogeneous: A frequent consequence of the widespread use of firearms in the USA is that even everyday conflicts between citizens who are integrated in themselves are disproportionately fatal. The comparison of the government capital Washington ( frequency number 42.9) with the again very different megacities of San Francisco in the west on the one hand (HZ 8.1) and New York City in the east on the other hand (HZ 8.7) makes it clear, however, that gun ownership can only be one of several factors in homicides. The comparison between the relatively small state capital Bern and the metropolis of Tokyo, with frequency figures of 1.0 and 1.2, respectively, does not lead to any notable differences. In contrast, Amsterdam has a HZ of 3.1. This can be seen as evidence of the extent to which the context of a state and the population living in it, possibly also its ethnic composition or mix and the associated cultural and other traditions, should be taken into account before drawing any conclusions.

The use of different types of weapons also varies greatly in the individual regions of the world. If attacks with cutting and stabbing weapons predominate in Europe, especially with knives, the firearm dominates on the American continent or in Africa. If 12% of firearms are used as a tool in murders in Germany, the proportion rises to 66% in the USA and 85% in South Africa.

The graphics below show that these weapons are used differently for crimes in different regions of the world. If there is one murder for every 150,000 firearms in Germany, in Colombia and South Africa there are between 330 and 350 firearms per murder.

Draw homicides de cd usa kol sa.png Draw firearms per killing offense.png
Firearms use in Latin America and other countries
country Civil weapons in millions Homicides with firearms p. a. Firearm homicides per 100,000 inhabitants Guns per homicide Firearm homicides 100,000 weapons each
Ecuador 0.2-0.5 1,321 10.16 150-380 260-660
Colombia 4.2-10.2 21,898 49.54 190-470 220-520
Venezuela 1.2-6.0 5,408 21.04 220-1,100 90-450
Brazil 20.0-30.0 25,603 14.35 780-1.170 85-128
Mexico 35.0-165.0 5,452 5.27 640-3000 33-156
Argentina 4.1-5.6 942 2.45 4,350-5,940 17-23
Peru 0.5-1.0 161 0.59 3,100-6,200 16-32
Uruguay 0.9-1.6 104 3.05 8,650-11,400 7-12
Chile 1.4-2.0 82 0.52 17,000-24,400 4.1-5.9
Jamaica 0.08-0.2 450 16.97 180-440 230-560
South Africa 4.5 13,572 30.17 330 302.0
United States 243.0-281.0 10,310 3.45 24,000-28,000 3.76-4.2
Canada 7.9 170 0.54 48,000 2.2
Germany 5.5 155 0.19 129,000-194,000 0.5-0.8
Russia 200 ? ? ? ?

Explanations:

Germany

Violations of Preventive Laws

Criminal offenses 2006 WaffG SprenG KWKG.png

Gun ownership and trade in arms are regulated in Germany by the Weapons Act (WaffG), the Explosives Act (SprengG) and the War Weapons Control Act (KWKG). You should help to prevent the misuse of weapons. In 2006 there were 40,175 crimes related to the Arms, Explosives and War Weapons Control Act. This corresponds to 0.6% of all criminal offenses in Germany. Of these, 37,841 crimes related to the Weapons Act, 509 to the War Weapons Control Act and 1,825 to the Explosives Act. Approximately 80% of the offenses related to these laws involve the manufacture, trade and possession of weapons and explosives. In approx. 20% of the cases, firearms (including alarm pistols, replicas) are carried without official permission, e.g. B. at folk festivals. The crimes mentioned do not include threatening or shooting with firearms.

Illegal arms market and inventory

The illegal arms market is loud Bundeskriminalamt in Germany relatively small. Based on a population of 82 million people, only 12,583 firearms were seized in 1998. This number is small compared to other countries. In 1998, 709 illegally manufactured or firearms weapons were confiscated by the authorities. In 1997, 33 Yugoslav machine guns and 136 small arms from the Czech Republic, Austria (as a transfer country) and the Netherlands were confiscated on the German border. In 1998, 180 firearms came only from Switzerland. This is an indication that there is a modest but significant European market for small arms. After the EU border controls were abolished in 1998, the number of weapons confiscated also fell significantly, a sign of how an EU internal market facilitates the international illegal arms trade. In response to inquiries from the German federal government about the composition of the loss of 6,000 firearms within Germany, the federal government was only able to put a figure on the 350 thefts in 2002. Compared to other countries, this number is very low due to the applicable storage regulations.

There are around 5.5 million registered firearms in Germany. This is around 6% of the world's registered firearms. Until the data from the newly created National Arms Register (NWR) was published, it was assumed that there would be over 10 million registered firearms - due to the decentralized data management in around 600 mainly municipal authorities. The quota of legal firearms is very high compared to other countries. However, the proportion of illegal firearms in Germany predominates due to a change in the 1972 Weapons Act. Until then, long guns were freely available for people over the age of 18. At that time between 14 and 17 million rifles and shotguns became "illegal" because they were not registered. However, it can be assumed that most of these weapons are neither available for the illegal market nor are they intended to be used in criminal offenses. The police union estimates the number of illegally owned firearms to remain constant at around 20 million, while others speak of "at least twice as many illegal as legal" and do not want to be tied to specific numbers. A number between 10 and 40 million is also mentioned. Illegal weapons are currently still coming to Germany, especially from the former Eastern Bloc.

Firearms offenses

The following table shows that around 0.2% of convicted offenders used a gun. Of these, in turn, around 40% were illegal weapons and 50% weapon-free weapons (e.g. alarm weapons). 4% of the seized firearms were used by their rightful owner in a criminal offense (mostly an act of relationship ).

Convicted offenders and weapons confiscated from them (1995–1999)
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 1999 in%
Convicted offenders 937.385 944,324 960.334 974.187 940.683
Firearm offenses 2,443 2,447 2,251 2,370 1.932 100.00
of which: legal firearms 131 109 109 97 79 4.08
of which: illegal firearms 1,141 1,052 991 882 781 40.40
of which: license-free firearms 1,452 1,515 1,300 1,325 994 51.40
of which: firearms, origin unclear 92 81 99 66 78 4.04

Firearms abuseBRDbis2006.png Since 1971, the number of crimes, also due to reunification, has almost tripled. However, firearm abuse fell by almost a third over the same period.

The number of shooting cases fell from 12,904 to 4,185 between 1971 and 1990. After a temporary high of 8,471 in 1996, these cases decreased continuously to 4,584 by 2006.

The cases in which firearms were threatened increased slightly before the fall of the Wall and increased sharply afterwards. Since 2001, however, a decrease has also been observed here.

Overall, the number of firearms used in connection with crime has fallen from 0.78% in 1971 to 0.21%. It should be noted here that the threat from toy and alarm weapons is included.

“Finally [2003] there was also a reform of the gun law; access to weapons is much more restrictive today. The consequences of this cannot yet be assessed with certainty. "

Violent crime with gun abuse (Germany, 2006)
Offense all threatened (%) shot (%)
Offenses (total) 6,203,074 0.2 0.07
Violent crime (total) 215.471 2.2 0.8
dangerous / serious bodily harm 150,874 0.2 0.9
murder 818 0.4 12.0
Bodily harm m. Consequence of death 171 0.6 0.0
Rape , sex. Coercion 8,118 0.8 0.0
Manslaughter , killing on demand 1,650 1.0 5.8
Robbery 53,696 7.9 0.4
hostage taking 53 11.3 1.9
extortionate kidnapping 90 30.0 0.0

Explanations:

In 2006, 8,813 crime victims were threatened with firearms. This is the lowest level since 1993. The decrease compared to 2005 was 4.0% (9,177 cases). Almost ninety percent (89.3%) of the cases concerned the areas of “robbery, predatory extortion, etc. predatory attack on drivers ”and“ crimes against personal freedom ”.

According to the 2006 police crime statistics, "almost a third of the cases (31.7%) [... in which shooting ...] were less serious offenses, namely damage to property (e.g. shooting at traffic signs)". However, a similar number of cases (29.6%) also involved dangerous and serious bodily harm.

The Federal Government's Second Periodic Safety Report from 2006 stated: “Offenses involving firearms have continued to decrease. These declines started well before the gun law was amended. The number of violent crimes with firearms is now at its lowest level in 20 years. "

Great Britain

Britain's gun laws are among the toughest in the world. The Hungerford rampage (1987) resulted in a ban on semi-automatic rifles. Then in 1996 15 children and their teacher were shot in Dunblane (Scotland). This led to a total ban on handguns.

Nonetheless, the number of firearm crimes rose from 14,000 in 1996 to 21,500 in 2005/2006, but has since fallen to 11,000 (2010/11) after the statistics were changed in 2003 and many incidents were assigned to other crime categories. Although the number of deaths remained constant at around 50, attempted murder and injuries initially rose by 50% until the early 2000s, but then fell significantly again. In 2006 the laws were tightened again and, among other things, a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison was introduced for illegal weapon possession. Great Britain has one of the toughest gun laws in the world. However, the number of crimes involving firearms has not yet been reduced below the pre-1996 level. In comparison, according to BKA statistics, Germany recorded a sharp decline in crimes involving firearms during this period.

While the Home Office announced: “We're cutting off the supply of firearms into the country,” a study by the Ministry found that pistols cost around £ 1,000 and (fully) automatic weapons between £ 800 and £ 4,000. An advisor to Scotland Yard, Peter Herbert, states that children from the age of 8 are now being recruited, for example to transport and hide weapons, so that adult criminals are not found in a control with weapons and are sentenced to long prison terms. At the same time, the offenders are getting younger and younger.

The most widely used weapons in the UK in violent crime are knives. They are used about four times as often as firearms in murders. In the case of 24 teenagers who died as a result of violent crimes in 2007 (as of August), a knife was used 16 times and fired 8 times. The Center for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London suspects between 22,000 and 57,900 victims of knife attacks in Great Britain in 2004.

In the period 2003/2004, around one million violent crimes are said to have involved around 35,000 incidents involving firearms or corresponding replicas (3.5% of violent crime). However, the application, i.e. the firing of a shot, was observed much less often. The majority of the 883 murders during this period were carried out either without weapons or with stabbing weapons (45%). Firearms were used in 73 murders (8.7%).

Types of weapons in murder (GB, 2003/2004)
all murders Vehicle Firearm knife unarmed Suffocation blunt weapon Poison / drug Fire u. explosive Others
833 24 73 237 139 65 67 23 25th 180

From 2006 to 2007, the number of firearm crimes fell by 13% to 9,608 cases. More than half of these crimes occurred in the Metropolitan Police area of London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. In the area of ​​the City of London, the number of cases even rose from 3,485 to 3,607 cases (+ 3.5%). In recent years, gang crime has seen a number of counterfeit firearms used. Some of these weapons could be converted to fire "live" ammunition with the appropriate means. According to the BBC, gun crime is not a general problem in the UK, but is limited to a few cities.

Colombia

Colombia is considered by some to be one of the most violent countries in the world. A high level of crime within the country, the drug cartels and the longstanding conflict with left-wing guerrilla groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) and right-wing groups such as the United Self- Defense Forces of Columbia (AUC) result in around 17,600 people being killed by firearms each year.

Since 1979 around 475,000 people have been killed by firearms. With around 600,000 murders, crimes using firearms make up around 80% of the cases. It should be noted that more than 90% are male victims, a third of whom are between the ages of 20 and 29.

While the official Colombian statistics show 1.53 firearms / 100 inhabitants, individual international studies put it at 5.05 to 8.42 firearms / 100 inhabitants. That is, there are between 0.8 and 3.9 million firearms in Colombia, the majority of which (up to 80%) may be illegal. Colombia's legal arms market is "highly transparent and strictly regulated".

South Africa

South Africa, like Colombia, is one of the most dangerous countries on earth. With around 45 million inhabitants, there were 18,528 murders and 20,571 reported murder attempts in the 2006/2007 period. There were also 226,942 cases of grievous bodily harm and 119,726 armed robbery. It is assumed that every 10th South African has a firearm, with which an average of 14,000 murders are committed each year (approx. 75% of all murders).

40 out of 100,000 inhabitants are murdered every year. In comparison, the global average is 5.5 / 100,000 inhabitants. The difference in the use of firearms is also significant. The probability of being shot in a murder is 150 times higher in South Africa than in Germany.

Raids on z. B. Cash transports can expand into half-hour firefights with fully automatic weapons. These weapons, mostly AK-47s , often come from the former civil war countries of Angola and Mozambique.

While between March 2005 and March 2006 the amount of 2,297 firearms disappeared from the arsenals of the South African police, in the year to March 2007 a total of 3,857 firearms were stolen, stolen or otherwise lost. In the period from March 2006 to March 2007, however, around 13,000 stolen firearms were also recovered. At the same time, 160,178 firearms were destroyed.

United States

According to the FBI's crime statistics, about 1/3 of all violent crimes in the United States in 1994 were committed with the misuse of firearms.

Robbery and assault

In the case of robbery and assault, the victims were shot in around 3% of the cases in which a firearm was carried.

Firearm abuse violent crimes (U.S., 1994)
offense all crimes threatened with a gun shot with a gun
murder 21,606 - 16.305
Robbery / grievous bodily harm 1,679,716 528.575 15,857
total 1,701,322 544.880 32,162

Types of weapons in murder

While firearms abuse was stable, and in some cases even declining, between 1980 and 1985, an increase was observed between 1985 and 1994. While the number of violent crimes increased by 42.1%, the use of firearms increased by 59.5%. The increase was similarly strong (52.6%) for other dangerous objects such as tools. The increase in knives was below average (11%).

From this the statement can be made that in criminal offenses, knives in particular have been displaced by firearms. In cases of bodily harm, there was also heavy recourse to everyday objects and fists.

Types of Weapons in Murder (U.S., 1991-2005)
year all murders Firearm knife unarmed Suffocation blunt weapon Poison / drug Fire u. explosive Others
1991 21,676 14,373 3,430 1,202 440 1,099 34 211 887
1995 20,043 13,673 2,538 1,182 367 904 34 456 889
2001 14,061 8,890 1,831 961 269 680 49 113 1,268
2005 14,860 10.100 1.914 892 216 597 53 125 963

In 2005, 21.6% of all homicides were family crimes; 32.1% of the women were killed by their boyfriend or husband. Only 23.1% of the victims were killed by people who had never seen them before.

Regional differences

Security forces simulate an armed kidnapping.

In any case, it is wrong to generalize the US totals. Due to the size and landscape, the numbers for the states and cities differ greatly. New Hampshire and South Dakota have similar numbers to Germany, while Alabama, California and Texas have up to 25 times as many crimes with firearms. The degree of urbanization also shows differences. If rural regions and cities with up to 25,000 inhabitants still have a frequency of less than 3 (based on murders per 100,000 inhabitants), this number increases to 7.7 for cities with up to 250,000 inhabitants. The group of cities with more than 250,000 inhabitants achieved a frequency number of 13.1. The risk of being killed in a large American city is therefore around four times greater than in a small town.

But here too you have to make differences. A comparison of the four largest cities in Alabama for 2005 shows the following picture:

  • Birmingham (233,000 Ew.): 104 murders, 45.7 murders / 100,000 inhabitants
  • Huntsville (168,000 Ew.): 16 murders, 9.5 murders / 100,000 inhabitants
  • Montgomery (201,000 Ew.): 27 murders, 13.4 murders / 100,000 inhabitants
  • Mobile (250,000 Ew.): 34 murders, 13.6 murders / 100,000 inhabitants
Criminal offenses versus population (US, 2006)
State Residents Total murders Frequency / 100,000 inhabitants Firearm murders Frequency / 100,000 inhabitants
USA (total) 300.9 million 14,990 5.0 10.177 3.4
Alabama 4.6 million 349 7.5 247 5.4
Hawaii 1.3 million 21st 1.6 7th 0.5
Iowa 2.9 million 54 1.9 23 0.8
California 36.5 million 2,485 6.8 1,822 5.0
New Hampshire 1.3 million 12 0.9 3 0.2
Pennsylvania 12.3 million 719 5.8 554 4.5
South Dakota 0.8 million 8th 1.0 2 0.3
Texas 23.5 million 1,381 5.9 949 4.0
Washington 5.9 million 186 3.2 107 1.8

As can be seen from the table above, crime and firearms abuse vary widely from state to state. The proportion of firearms misused in the murders varies between 25% and 75%. The average for the entire US for 2006 is 68%.

Possible measures against the misuse of weapons

In the USA, a study was carried out in 1986 in which around 2,000 detained offenders were interviewed. The conclusions of this study were that there are three main measures that can be taken to limit the misuse of weapons.

Since the detainees acquired a large part of the weapons through theft, the study concludes that public education of private weapon owners about the need to protect their weapon against theft is necessary. When asked about their motivation for wielding a weapon, many respondents stated that they wanted to be "prepared for every conceivable situation", especially because they expected that others would also carry a weapon. The general increase in public safety is therefore also an effective measure against the misuse of weapons. Finally, the study comes to the conclusion that crime can also be reduced through stricter penalties.

On the other hand, the study places less hope in stricter controls on the legal arms trade and in tightening gun law. This is mainly justified by the fact that this means that criminals' access to weapons cannot realistically be effectively restricted.

Disproportionate use of weapons by security forces

State and semi-state misuse of weapons can result from inadequate legal and technical training, but can also be based on direct instructions from government bodies.

Inadequate training

Some see low pay and poor training of police officers and law enforcement officers as one of the causes of government gun abuse. According to the Frankfurter Rundschau and Amnesty International, around 100,000 South African security officers do not have adequate training; 75% of all security officers would not have completed more than five hours of weapons training. According to Oxfam Germany, there is often a lack of knowledge of when and under what conditions the use of weapons is permitted and justified. The misuse of weapons and their arbitrary use would therefore lead to serious human rights violations and create a climate of fear and insecurity.

Private security services

In Latin America the number of private security services is increasing rapidly. 116 security companies with around 35,000 employees work in Guatemala alone. The number of police officers is only half that. In El Salvador, only about half of the 17,000 employees of private security companies can prove that they have attended a five-day course, which is actually the prerequisite for carrying a firearm.

Instructions on the use of weapons against refugees

On April 25, 1972, instructions ( shooting orders ) were issued to border soldiers of the German Democratic Republic to shoot refugees at the inner-German border. According to the European Court of Human Rights , these instructions were in conflict with higher-ranking GDR law.

Stun gun abuse

Stun guns are advertised as the " Most Effective Non-Lethal Weapon " by one of the manufacturers, Taser International , Inc. The police in many countries use them to temporarily incapacitate people by means of electric shocks. In 2006, the Federal Interior Ministers' Conference in Germany recommended that electroshock weapons should be purchased in all federal states.

The UN Committee against Torture stated that the use of electric shock weapons of certain models could be a form of torture, caused very severe pain and had already led to death in several cases. Amnesty International specified this in a 2006 report to the effect that 150 people had been killed in the United States since 2001 after the use of stun guns and that in at least 23 of these cases the electric shocks had been shown to have contributed to the death.

The Palm Beach Post has documented cases of misuse of stun guns - including fatalities - by police units in the US state of Florida .

Other aspects

Gun possession

If one orientates oneself on the general German legislation , essentially every portable object , which is intended or suitable to eliminate or reduce the ability of people to attack or defend themselves, is a " weapon ". In German criminal law , a weapon is defined as any ready-to-use tool that, according to its type of manufacture and intended use, is suitable for physically injuring a person through its mechanical or chemical action.

The large group of weapons operated purely with muscle power ( bow , throwing , cutting or stabbing weapons and some firearms ) is rarely regulated by the state. However, there are national differences.

Some knives, including z. B. double-edged daggers, crossbows or batons are classified in Germany as "weapons" within the meaning of the Weapons Act and may not be acquired by young people. For some of them, e.g. B. the balisong , steel rod , brass knuckles , throwing star or nunchaku , possession is generally prohibited.

The global handgun population is estimated at around 875 million. Of these, 26 million (around 3%) are in the police force, around 200 million (slightly less than 25%) in the armed forces and around 650 million (around 75%) in civilian hands (including irregular troops and criminals). A total of around 40% of civil firearms are in the USA (270 million pieces). Mathematically, every seventh person has a firearm.

Firearms are only required to be reported in some states. Some exempt private sales from the reporting requirement. And even in countries that have a legal basis for weapons registration, this is not practiced due to a lack of monitoring or sanctions. This explains why only nine percent of the firearms available to civilians worldwide are registered.

While the German War Weapons Control Act counts fully automatic firearms among the war weapons, in some countries fully automatic firearms can also be found in private hands.

Explosive and incendiary devices

Explosive and incendiary devices are generally intended to act against people over a large area or to destroy buildings, vehicles, etc. If such weapons are used outside of the battlefield, civilians are often the target of the attacks carried out with them. But even if the target is a military object, civilians are mostly affected.

Arson attacks are mostly carried out outside of conflict regions. Corresponding agents such as gasoline or alcohol are easier to obtain than civilian and military explosives, which are subject to strict purchase guidelines in most countries.

Unconventional explosive devices and incendiary devices (bombs) are cheap weapons compared to their physical and psychological effects. The total cost of a suicide attack with an explosive belt is around USD 150, the cost of the 1995 attack on a government building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, including a rental car, was around USD 1,500. A land mine of simple construction can be obtained on the world market for USD 3.

Gun suicide

In many countries, suicide is not prohibited and therefore not the abuse of weapons in the sense of the introductory definition. Yet it is often viewed as a weapon abuse.

According to estimates by the World Health Organization, around 500,000 people die every year as a result of suicide, around 15,000 of them in the Federal Republic of Germany. Men in particular choose to be shot. The use of firearms varies from country to country between 8% and 24%. In Australia, the number of gun suicides fell after a change in gun laws, but the number of falls from great heights increased. Overall, the suicide rate for Australia remained the same.

Other studies conclude that the overall number of suicides can be reduced by a restricted availability of firearms, especially if these changes in gun law are accompanied by other preventive measures such as the installation of nets in particularly exposed locations. It is estimated that around 100 suicides a year could be prevented in Switzerland if access to firearms were restricted.

National and international conflicts

The question of the misuse of weapons in war must be broken down into individual components. Basically the question arises whether a war can be just ( bellum iustum ). For this, the right to war (ius ad bellum) must exist and the war must be waged with legitimate means (ius in bello).

In the Middle Ages it was assumed that a just war , in addition to other conditions, primarily required a just cause (causa iusta). In addition to the restoration of justice, the fight against unbelievers was also justified here.

In modern international martial law , the idea of peace came to the fore and wars of aggression were outlawed under international law. In principle, any kind of warfare between the members of the United Nations can be viewed as the abuse of weapons. But the choice of the means of war and their use are also bound by rules. In any case, the civilian population must be spared and collateral damage must be avoided. Violations of these rules can also be called gun abuse.

Meanwhile, however, the way of waging war has changed. The number of interstate wars has steadily decreased. Domestic conflicts have developed for this, e.g. B. Independence efforts, increased. The struggle of the armies is increasingly directed against national groups, but also against international terrorism. Civilians are becoming more and more victims in these clashes. But even combatants are usually no longer treated according to the rules of the United Nations.

As with the criminal misuse of weapons, the connection between weapons and armed conflicts is a controversial issue. Various initiatives e.g. B. Control Arms argue that small arms are the real weapons of mass destruction and call for a strict arms trade agreement. On the other hand, experiences from recent history show that war crimes and mass murder z. B. do not need firearms. Most of the genocide crimes in Rwanda were committed using primitive weapons such as spears or machetes .

Land mines

Defusing Russian-type landmines by US soldiers in Iraq.

Landmines have killed around 1 million people in the past 30 years. Of these, 20% were combatants and 80% civilians, who often fell victim to the mines only after the conflict had ended. Overall, around 25% of the victims are children. In addition to direct use in combat areas, they are also a means of terrorizing entire societies and placing a psychological and economic burden on the country. Because in addition to the fear that arises, entire stretches of land can no longer be used economically and must be cleared with great effort.

The extent to which mines are also directed against non-combatants is shown by the following newspaper report: “Angola - supply transports through“ intelligent ”mines stopped. The use of new types of mines, the detonators of which react to light or signals emitted by a mine detector, currently prevents the population from being supplied with essential food and is aimed specifically at mine clearance teams who are barely able to close these extremely dangerous mines clear. "

The time after the conflict

After an armed conflict, many states are overwhelmed by existing and emerging problems. In half of the cases of peace agreements, armed conflict occurs again within 10 years. Periods of extreme violence also lead to a culture of violence in society. Areas that have not been affected so far adopt violence as their own; Values, beliefs and views are shaped or glorified by violence. Crime and chaos prevail and are carried through the legitimation of violence. Coupled with the return of now unemployed combatants and the easy availability of weapons, a system of crime, smuggling and organized (violent) crime develops in such uncertain times.

Studies show that weapons must be withdrawn from the market and an environment worth living in must be created. Otherwise, the availability of weapons will lead to disputes turning into acts of violence. The Monkol-Borei Hospital in northwest Cambodia may serve as an example. Before the peace treaty was signed in 1991, there were 147 gunshot wounds per 100,000 inhabitants. While the United Nations ensured compliance with the peace treaty by troops, but did not disarm the population, this number fell to 71 gunshot wounds per 100,000 inhabitants. Five months after the peacekeeping forces withdrew, the number of gunshot wounds rose to 163 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Perception of serious crime

Serious violent crime attracts a great deal of attention from the German public, even though it accounts for only a small proportion of all criminal offenses at around 3.3% of all crime recorded by the police. Available criminological findings indicate that media reports - in addition to direct communication with neighbors and friends - are an essential source of information about such events for many citizens, the vast majority of whom have never been victims of attempted killing, hostage-taking, dangerous physical injuries, robbery or rape are. The media provide information about the frequency, supposedly “typical” perpetrators, victim risks, temporal and spatial constellations of offenses as well as the criminal prosecution of such offenses. However, the media images of crime are drastically distorted. They are dominated by homicides and homicides as well as serious sexual crimes, which only make up a very small proportion of the actual crime scene in the light and dark field. According to current studies, depending on the type and intensity of media consumption, there is an enormous overestimation of the risk of acts of violence in the population in particular. Real trends, such as the significant decrease in homicides, are not recognized or their opposite is even suspected.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Small Arms Survey 2004: Chapter Summary; A common tool: Firearms, Violence and Crime (PDF).
  2. Abuse of weapons ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 25 kB) Fact sheet of the Swiss government from 2005 - accessed on May 10, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ejpd.admin.ch
  3. Law against the misuse of weapons of March 28, 1931 (Germany) .
  4. Press release of the Swiss Federal Council on the Federal Act on Weapons, Gun Accessories and Ammunition (1996) .
  5. ^ British Government Report , 2000 (PDF; 103 kB).
  6. Amnesty International's press release on the misuse of weapons by the police, 2004 .
  7. to: Second Periodical Safety Report; Federal Ministry of the Interior, Federal Ministry of Justice; Adopted by the Federal Government on November 15, 2006; P. 43, Crime in Germany in a European and international context http://www.bmj.bund.de/files/-/1485/2.%20Periodischer%20Sicherheitsbericht%20Langfassung.pdf ( Memento from February 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  8. Small Arms Survey 2004: Chapter Summary; A common tool: guns, violence and crime .
  9. Second Periodic Safety Report; Federal Ministry of the Interior, Federal Ministry of Justice; Adopted by the Federal Government on November 15, 2006; P. 44/45, Crime in Germany in a European and international context.
  10. Small Arms Survey 2004: Deadliest Gun Use: Lethality and Inventories in Nine Latin American Countries (with other countries as comparative examples).
  11. sueddeutsche.de
  12. The information in this table relates to various base years. While firearms statistics are from 2002–2003, data on homicides with firearms are for the last available year, usually 1998–2001, except in the case of Jamaica, which is based on 1995. Bolivia and Paraguay were excluded due to the lack of specific information on homicides involving firearms. The figures for weapons / homicides with firearms and homicides with firearms / 100,000 weapons have been rounded to avoid incorrect precision. Sources: Compiled from Tables 2.1 and 2.2 of the Small Arms Survey 2004. Firearm homicides data from Chetty (2000); CRIME; UN (1998). Data on civil stocks for the other countries by Cross et al. (2003), GPC (2002) and Small Arms Survey (2002).
  13. Dr. Domitilla Sagramoso, The proliferation of illegal small arms and light weapons in and around the European Union: Instability, organized crime and terrorist groups; July 2001; Page 16; Source there: Weapons and explosives crime in the Federal Republic of 1998, Federal Criminal Police Office, September 1, 1999, pages 40–41.
  14. Focus: National Arms Register provides an overview; December 28, 2012; Online access .
  15. welt.de .
  16. derwesten.de .
  17. rp-online.de .
  18. Second Periodic Safety Report; Federal Ministry of the Interior, Federal Ministry of Justice; Adopted by the Federal Government on November 15, 2006; Page 59.
  19. ↑ Violent crime means the cases of serious violent crime according to the PKS. Overall, violent crime is around four times higher. "Threatened with firearms" includes, in addition to firearms according to § 1 WaffG, all other objects that give the appearance of a firearm (toy pistols, appropriately shaped lighters, ...) and for which at least one victim felt threatened. “Shot with a firearm” includes all firearms according to Section 1 WaffG.
  20. Police crime statistics (PKS) 2006 (PDF) ka.de. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  21. Second Periodic Safety Report; Federal Ministry of the Interior, Federal Ministry of Justice; Adopted by the Federal Government on November 15, 2006; Page 59.
  22. www.independent.co.uk .
  23. parliament.uk (PDF).
  24. parliament.uk (PDF).
  25. ^ British Telegraph, August 24, 2007 .
  26. ^ Royal Armories; Homicide & the role of firearms - methods of homicide 2003/4  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.royalarmouries.org  
  27. BBC News Analysis: UK gun crime figures, By Dominic Casciani, Home affairs
  28. BBC News of July 17, 2007 (PDF; 2.8 MB).
  29. Small Arms Survey 2006: Chapter Summary 9; Colombia's Hydra, THE MANY FACES OF GUN VIOLENCE.
  30. ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, October 7, 2007, No. 40, 12 / Politics / The murderous country. Life is dangerous in South Africa; by Thomas Scheen.
  31. Mail & Guardian Online; Cops lose 3,800 firearms, says report; Cape Town, South Africa, September 18, 2007 05:22 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mg.co.za
  32. FBI, Crime Report 1995 Section V, Table 5.2 fbi.gov .
  33. ^ FBI, Uniform Crime Reports since 1992 .
  34. FBI Crime Report 2006, Table 20 ( Memento from June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and population figures from Wikipedia. Numbers rounded.
  35. FBI, Crime Report 2006, u. a .: Expanded Homicide Data Table 7 ( Memento from October 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  36. ^ National Institute of Justice; Research Brief, November 1986; The Armed Criminal in America; James D. Wright; Summary under:
  37. ^ Shattered Lives the case for tough international arms control, p. 18, Amnesty International / Oxfam International; 'Policing to protect human rights - A survey of police practice in the countries of the Southern African Development Community 1997-2002', Amnesty International (AI Index: AFR 03/004/2002).
  38. ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, October 7, 2007, No. 40, 12 / Politics / The murderous land; Life is dangerous in South Africa; by Thomas Scheen.
  39. Oxfam Germany, Arms under Control! - Problems and causes - security guards.
  40. ^ Shattered Lives the case for tough international arms control, p. 18, Amnesty International / Oxfam International; Stray Bullets: the Impact of Small Arms Misuse in Central America, William Godnick, Robert Muggah, Camilla Waszink, October 2002; Small Arms Survey, occasional paper no.5, p. 15.
  41. ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Canada, Another Fatality After Taser Use, by Katja Gelinsky; November 27, 2007, No. 276 / page 11 .
  42. PalmBeach Post, video of a vehicle inspection using a taser ( memento of the original dated December 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.palmbeachpost.com
  43. Palmbeach Post, Report on the Dangers of Tasers .
  44. Wessels / Hettinger / Engländer: Criminal Law Special Part 1, 42nd edition, Rn. 297.
  45. Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, September 30, 2007, No. 39
  46. ^ Oxfam Germany, Campaign against Mines.
  47. ^ The NAW book: practical emergency medicine / ed. by C. Madler… ISBN 3-541-16801-3 .
  48. ^ Changing Times: A Longitudinal Analysis of International Firearm Suicide Data, Am J Public Health. 2006 October; 96 (10): 1752-1755.
  49. Beginning of a new era for suicide prevention in Switzerland ?, Schweizerische Ärztezeitung, 2008; 89: 12/13.
  50. LAND MINES AND SMALL ARMS: CONTROL OF THE “REAL” WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . weltpolitik.net. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  51. ^ Oxfam Germany, Campaign on Landmines .
  52. ^ London Times, July 4, 1999
  53. Shattered Lives the case for tough international arms control, page 11, Amnesty International / Oxfam International; Ending Violence Against Women: A Challenge for Development and Humanitarian Work, Francine Pickup with Suzanne Williams and Caroline Sweetman, Oxford, Oxfam GB, 2001.
  54. Shattered Lives the case for tough international arms control, page 11, Amnesty International / Oxfam International; controlarms.org Development Held Hostage: Assessing the effects of small arms on human development, Robert Muggah, Peter Batchelor, April 2002, UN Development Program (UNDP).
  55. Violence and Crime in Cross-national Perspective 1900–1974, Dane Archer, Rosemary Gartner, Ann Arbor, USA, 1994.
  56. Shattered Lives the case for tough international arms control, page 11, Amnesty International / Oxfam International; controlarms.org ICRC Arms Availability Report, op.cit.
  57. to: Second Periodical Safety Report; Federal Ministry of the Interior, Federal Ministry of Justice; Adopted by the Federal Government on November 15, 2006; S. 60, Crime in Germany in a European and international context.
  58. See JV Roberts, 1992; JV Roberts, LJ Stalans, 1998; K.-H. Reuband, 1998; W.Scharf u. a., 1999; K.-H. Reuband, 2000a; H.-J. Albrecht, 2004.
  59. Cf. C. Pfeiffer, u. a., 2004; 2005.