Position Paper from Topic B

Committee: UNODA

Topic: Combating Illicit Firearms In Latin America

Country: Thailand

Delegate: Jimena Niño

School: Colegio Ingles

The illegal trade and circulation of firearms occurs worldwide. It is more concentrated in specific areas that have more conflicts and violence. The trafficking of these small arms and light weapons are a serious threat to national security and a block to economic development. The small arms can be defined as weapons that can be carried by one person and are for personal and individual use as the UN defines them. This topic is a serious and important issue to many governments since the region is full of examples of trading of these illicit arms. Whatever the causes for having these arms are the trading of them is an illegal act. These arms are usually used in robberies, harassment of political rivals and some of them are in hands of other bad people such as local opponents to official policy.

Thailand is one of the countries where having firearms except for any automatic and semi-automatic weapons is permitted having a license. To get that license the minimum age for gun ownership is 20 years old and to get it applicants for it have to prove a sincere reason to posses it, for example sports, hunting, collection, shooting or self-defense and also has to have a clean record considering personal conduct, criminal records and personal living. Since Thailand is considered a high exporter of these arms my delegation is against combating illicit firearms and is in favor of making them legal. In Thailand firearm exports are permitted but limited by transfer control law. The annual value of these exports is US$73,845,002 and imports US$73,845,002.

My delegation suggests making firearms legal in countries having a license for people to have them as self-defense and for them to be able to consume a certain amount of money in them. People who buy them to be aloud to have them only in their country and to not take them to public places where it is not permitted. Also putting more protection in the borders for people to not take arms from one place to another. My delegation will also be open for more solutions.