NEW DELHI: At least four in 10 people living in Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi worry about becoming a victim of armed violence, according to an international survey conducted by the Control Arms Campaign. Almost all of them cite `easy availability' of guns as the main reason for their fear.

As many as 93 per cent of the 1,000 people surveyed in the four metros said they would like tougher controls on arms coming into India.

The study was conducted in Brazil, Britain, Canada, Guatemala, India and South Africa in the run-up to the United Nations Small Arms Review Conference later this month (June 26 to July 7) in New York.

A joint initiative

The Campaign, a joint initiative of Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network of Small Arms (IANSA — a global network of over 800 non-governmental organisations) aims to introduce global, legally binding principles to regulate transfer of arms between countries.

The survey, conducted last month, demonstrated a very strong support for `better controls on arms coming to my country' with an average of 87 per cent of all respondents in the six countries — Brazil (96 per cent), Britain (92), Canada (92), Guatemala (94) and South Africa (73 per cent).

Nearly two in three people — an average of 62 per cent — from all the six countries said it was too easy to obtain a gun and that this was the main reason for their fear of becoming a victim of armed violence.

Public support

"The survey shows massive public support for internationally binding global principles on transfer of arms between countries," according to Binalakshmi Nepram, Oxfam's South Asia Control Arms Policy Adviser. "Almost one in three people say that it is `too easy' to obtain a gun in India," she said.

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