Over the past 10 years, Control Arms Coalition has been pushing for a legally-binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which would bring the arms trade under control and would help prevent future arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty and inequality. Despite the obstacles and difficulties, the Coalition’s campaign efforts finally paid off and have led to the signing of the Arms Trade Treaty by the world’s governments in 2013. In spite of this victory, however, much still needs to be done to ensure that both legal and illicit arms trade will no longer curtail human rights and claim further lives.

Despite the enactment of regulations to control gun ownership over the years, the “long arm of the Philippine law” seems to be helpless in its campaign to curb, if not eliminate, the proliferation of loose firearms in the country. Only with a thorough re-examination of its laws, an unyielding assertion of its authority, and a firmer implementation of existing gun-related laws can the Philippines attain a safer, if not gunless, society.

Despite the many difficulties faced, advocacies and campaigns by many concerned groups to push for disarmament and arms control have slowly but surely gained ground over the decades. Aside from non-governmental organizations, civil society has been thrust into the limelight as a key player in important deliberations in policy-making bodies and other important fora. Such an involvement by NGOs and civil society in this campaign has not only increased the voice and influence of advocates in policy deliberations but has also introduced new and clever ways to lobby for disarmament around the world.