PNG study shows most illicit guns sourced from within the country

A crackdown on the export of firearms and ammunition from New Zealand and Australia has dramatically reduced the availability of guns in Papua New Guinea, says a new report on gun-running.

Sydney University associate Professor Philip Alpers - formerly a gun control advocate in New Zealand - said the study found that most of the guns being used illegally in PNG came from the country's police or military.

"We discovered that despite the rumours of large numbers of guns being smuggled into Papua New Guinea, that is largely mythology," he told ABC Radio.

"Very few of the guns we saw - and we were shown quite a lot of firearms, illicit firearms - almost all of them came from two sources: the police and the military within PNG.

"The most dangerous firearms used in conflict and crime, particularly in the Southern Highlands came directly from the police and military either stolen or purchased in some way."

The findings of the 16-month study will be presented at a PNG gun summit in June.

In March 2003, Prof Alpers and Conor Twyford published a report on small arms in the Pacific which said gun laws were not enforced in PNG, and that home-made weapons were common.

A home-made shotgun sold for about $US50 ($NZ69). A manufacture Uzi sub machine gun cost $US500, and an M16 rifle $US2500.

A Christian charity, Caritas, last year reported that the Pacific has not yet seen organised gun-running on the scale seen in Africa or central Asia "but it is really only a matter of time".

- NZPA