The 63-year-old Samoa's Arms Ordinance 1960 is currently being reviewed in its entirety by the Samoa Law Reform Commission upon request from the Ministry of Police and Prisons and should be done properly because there is a need for up to date laws in the country regarding firearms.

The Arms Ordinance has been described as one of the few remaining Ordinances or pre-independent laws of Samoa made and enforced during the New Zealand administration, which are still being used.

The Ministry of Police and Prisons made a request for a review of the ordinance in 2019 which prompted the review. There needs to be a good working legal framework for arms matters that will make Samoa safer.

To date, there have been minimal amendments to this AO 1960, with the most recent amendments being passed in 2019 to facilitate the import of unlawful firearms into Samoa for the purpose of the Pacific Games 2019; and allow a person under the age of 21 years to be in the possession of a firearm, for this same purpose.

Laws need to reflect the change in times and be practical, what is the use of a law if the police continues to face the challenge of effectively carrying out and enforcing these practices, if they are not expressly provided for in the Ordinance.

The Ordinance is outdated; there are issues in the licensing system; weaknesses in controlling arms; and inconsistencies in the Armoury Register. All these have been highlighted in an audit.

A good legal framework aligned with best international and regional standards and practices will strengthen the capacity of the police to execute its role and enhance the national security of Samoa.

Police have noted the rising presence of illegal firearms in Samoa and the effects of such on the public and on Samoa’s national security. Undoubtedly, the presence of these illegal firearms contributes to the high number of crimes committed and brought before the Court of Samoa.

There should be changes to further reduce the number of firearms in the country. When the police conducted the latest raids, some of them were armed because they knew about the prevalence of firearms in such situations.

How can one forget the 2012 incident when police were involved in a shootout at Faleatiu when three officers were injured? Luckily the bill to have police officers carry firearms was not pushed through otherwise we would have become a gun nation.

In August of this year, a man was shot dead in Fa’atoia. This was a premeditated crime and on Christmas Eve last year, a young policewoman Mele Segisolo was shot by her partner.

Guns portray the society as unsafe and one of having a high crime rate. That is something not needed especially when Samoa is being promoted as a tourist destination. People travel to places where they feel safe and with guns out in the open, this will not be able to happen.

In 2003, Samoa Police held records of 10,897 shotguns and 6,948 rifles in its firearm registry, for a total of 17,845 privately held, registered guns. That was 20 years ago. During the gun amnesty in 2016, 500 illegal firearms were confiscated by the police and destroyed.

According to research done by the University of Sydney, in Samoa, private ownership of shotguns and rifles is restricted, handguns are prohibited, and all applicants for a firearm licence must show a genuine reason for ownership.

With 11,995 licensed gun owners and 17,845 registered firearms, Samoa has 8.2 lawfully held private guns per 100 population. Among 18 island nations of the Pacific, this ranks Samoa with Niue and New Caledonia as having the highest civilian gun ownership rates. Although Samoan police do not carry firearms and the nation has no military, state armoury are estimated to hold 200 small arms.

These numbers are more than a decade old and it is believed that the number of guns in Samoa now are even more. The authorities need to work together and look at reducing the number of firearms in the country.

There is an increase in meth in Samoa and there is a relationship between the drugs and the use of guns especially when rival dealers or gangs are involved. That is clearly happening in New Zealand. Police have already stated that gangs in New Zealand were looking to set up chapters in Samoa.

Last thing Samoa needs is another person walking into a bar or a school with a gun and opening fire. Samoa does not need incidents like drive-by shootings. As it is, one fight at a drinking party is resulting in a series of fights among young men from different villages, what if these youths had access to guns.

Studies have shown that if there are more guns then it equates to more gun related crime including homicide.

In a scholarly review of the relationship between gun prevalence and homicide almost 20 years ago, Harvard researchers concluded that available evidence supports the hypothesis that greater numbers of guns corresponds to higher rates of homicide.

In the years since, the evidence has strengthened at every level of analysis. Further, the hypothesis that more guns equates to more deaths has been supported using many different ways of measuring gun availability and access.

Samoa needs to get stricter with its gun laws and there is a definite need to reduce the number of firearms in the nation.