Papua New Guinea: Government eyes ban on firearms

The capital, Port Moresby, has a notoriously high crime rate, but gun violence is also common in more remote regions

Papua New Guinea's government has announced that it wants to ban guns in the country, it's reported.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says officials are drawing up legislation that would outlaw firearms, and he thinks they should be removed from both civilians and the police. "My thinking is that we should ban firearms completely in the country," he is quoted as saying in The Post Courier. "You don't need firearms to control law and order in the country. It is about respect of the community, respect of the policemen and women."

Residents of the Pacific nation have faced high rates of violent crime for years, with its two main cities registering homicide rates which are among the highest in the world. The second city of Lae had an estimated 66 murders per 100,000 people in 2010, compared to a global average of fewer than seven. Gun crime has been on the rise since 2008, according to a World Bank study.

But rounding up the country's firearms would be a difficult task. Thousands of guns belonging to the police or the armed forces have gone missing from armouries, and while some were reportedly stolen, a 2005 audit found that many US and Australian-supplied firearms had been sold to criminal gangs. Others have ended up in the hands of warring tribes in Papua New Guinea's remote jungle regions. While tribal violence has been going on for decades, clashes which once involved homemade weapons are now fought with high-powered firearms.

Next story: March for short-wearing held in Baku

Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.