Taming the tools of violence

The author advocates for treating gun violence as a public health issue rather than a purely legal or security matter, particularly in Africa. The text explains that firearms act as 'violence multipliers' that increase the lethality of both premeditated and impulsive violence. It identifies critical gaps in mortality and possession data across sub-Saharan Africa and outlines how WHO recommendations and international agreements—such as the UN Programme of Action and regional protocols in West, East, and Southern Africa—can be leveraged by public health professionals to secure funding and government cooperation.

• Firearms do not necessarily cause violence but act as 'violence multipliers' that dramatically increase the lethality of violent acts compared to bare hands or knives.
• Empirical data from South Africa demonstrates that firearm wounds are significantly more fatal than knife wounds, with a fatality rate of 28% compared to 6% for the latter.
• There are severe gaps in disaggregated mortality statistics for sub-Saharan Africa; for instance, the WHO's 'AFRO' region database contains data for only seven countries, with estimated coverage of less than 50%.
• Armed conflict facilitates the proliferation of weapons into civilian markets through looting, trafficking, and deliberate militia drafting, contributing to high post-conflict violence levels.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies several promising firearms-related measures to reduce violence, including forbidding sales to high-risk purchasers, mandatory sentencing for gun crimes, and disrupting illegal markets, while noting that gun buy-backs and safety training have been found not to work.
• The UN Programme of Action (PoA) provides a mechanism for public health professionals to advocate for national coordination bodies and action-oriented research into the problems associated with illicit small arms trade.
• Three legally binding regional agreements—the Nairobi Protocol, the ECOWAS Convention, and the SADC Protocol—offer opportunities for civil society and public health professionals to engage governments in public education and awareness programmes.

APA

Marsh, N. (n.d.). Taming the tools of violence. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/21b2ed43-527d-45e9-bef4-08d6e2cec4e4/Taming the Tools of Violence.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Marsh, Nicholas. Taming the tools of violence. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/21b2ed43-527d-45e9-bef4-08d6e2cec4e4/Taming the Tools of Violence.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Marsh |first1=Nicholas |title=Taming the tools of violence |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/21b2ed43-527d-45e9-bef4-08d6e2cec4e4/Taming the Tools of Violence.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{marshndtaming, author = {Marsh, Nicholas}, title = {{Taming the tools of violence}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/21b2ed43-527d-45e9-bef4-08d6e2cec4e4/Taming the Tools of Violence.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }