The proposed project to assign codes to the 1.3 million firearms owned by non-state actors in the country is a great stride towards checking the proliferation of illicit weapons in the country.
It sounds like the most ambitious effort yet to keep a tab on weapons in the country. With technological advancement in the world today, it is unbelievable that such a move is now being considered in the country. Better late than never as the dictum goes anyway, we shall keep an eye on the project as it pans out.
We pray that the necessary funding required to ensure a successful implementation of the project is provided to the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCSALW), an agency under the Ministry of The Interior.
In the US today, a mechanism has been unfolded which enables the relevant security authorities to trace weapons used in committing crime to their manufacturers.
The envisaged task, when accomplished, would enable the security agencies to be more efficient in tracking the weapons in the hands of civilians.
There are so many weapons in the hands of unauthorised persons, a situation which has led to the rise in firearm-related crimes in the country.
In one of our commentaries on illicit arms, we called for an efficient management of the subject. Our stance was predicated upon the fact that there are bandit activities in some countries in the West African sub-region to which we belong. Burkina Faso and Mali are cases in point.
Gunrunners will definitely not mind moving firearms into the country from such bandit-infested areas since there are ready buyers away from the hotspots.
In the past few months, arrests have been made of persons possessing illegal weapons up North and to think that these are areas near to Burkina Faso, triggers thoughts about whether or not gunrunning is gaining a major traction in this part of the country.
The fact that locally manufactured weapons are giving way to foreign firearms, most of them unregistered is an indication about the ingenuity being employed by gunrunners should not be marginalised.
We applaud the NCSALW for the work it has done so far in furtherance of its mandate. The report of a survey conducted by the commission in 2014, which indicates that of the 2.3 million firearms in the hands of civilians, only 1.2 million were registered, with 47 percent unaccounted for, is a worrying revelation.
The time to make gunrunning difficult for those involved in the illegality is now.