9 July is International Gun Destruction Day and this year it is being marked by governments, UN agencies and NGOs through gun destruction events and awareness raising programmes around the world.

In Macedonia, CIVIL, the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje and representatives from the Ministry of Interior held a press conference launching the selection of winners of a national drawing contest on gun violence that started during the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence. In Mozambique, guns have been destroyed and made into sculptures. In Ghana, the National Peace Council has given radio interviews to raise awareness about the small arms issue.

In the run up to the day, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-LiREC) has been busy promoting effective stockpile management and firearms destruction practices, including a cost-benefit analysis of weapons destruction, throughout the greater Caribbean. “Every gun that is destroyed is a weapon that is no longer available to be used to kill, injure or intimidate. These events symbolise the worldwide campaign to bring the flood of guns under control”, said Rebecca Peters, IANSA Director.

875 million guns are currently circulating in the world and the number is growing. Guns produced by far outnumbers guns destroyed. Unregulated guns are involved in crime, killings, forced displacement, rape and torture across the world.

Voluntary SALW collection and destruction programs offer the opportunity to improve the security of a region while at the same time bolstering the confidence of those participating. For this reason they are an important tool in conflict prevention and have been applied successfully in many post-conflict situations. In conjunction with amnesties, they have been successful in reducing gun violence.

For international examples from previous years and more information on weapons collection and destructions including how to set up a small arms collection and destruction project, click here