Editorial Notes

The problem of violent crimes caused by using firearms

       The problem of violent crimes caused by using firearms has increased continuously in Thai society. Guns are widely used for committing various types of crimes, such as robbery, murder, assault as a crime of passion, fight between people in society and sex offence, etc. It is quite often that deadly assaults are arisen from just little conflicts on the street, or fights between teenagers or neighbors carrying guns. While firearms possession, both legal and illegal, is widespread among people who are ready to use the weapon in the public anytime, the total number of civilian guns either legally or illegally possessed in Thailand is indeed less than 10 million.

        On top of that, there is a lot of news telling stories about the arrests of illegal weapons smuggled along the Thai border by passing through Thailand to a third country that wants such weapons for battle, trafficking and deployment in the country as well. Therefore, it is very crucial for Thailand to emphasize the gun control and prevent firearms smuggling to minimize possible loss caused by using such weapons.

    One of methods leading to prevention and reduction of using firearms is a study to spread knowledge and recognize theirs danger as well as to research for accurate data to formulate the national policy on this particular issue. Thus, it will be a good start for preventing and controlling firearms problem in Thai society if the Graduate School of Criminology at Chulalongkorn University adapts the Firearms Modules of UNODC under E4J project to its course.