A/HRC/32/21 conducted at the regional level provide some understanding of the success of regulatory measures designed to restrict the proliferation of private ownership of firearms and their impact on the reduction in firearms-related death and violence.56 In several European countries, research has suggested that low firearm homicide rates point to a certain level of association between firearm ownership and firearm homicide. 57 In the Americas, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights noted in its report that “the most successful experiences in crime prevention in the Hemisphere have focused mainly on dealing with the factors that make violence a recurring problem at the local level. These efforts have involved measures to … regulate private possession of firearms.”58 It should be noted, however, that other factors may need to be taken into account, including the adoption alongside specific firearm legislation of a range of other measures in the field of criminal law, education and social programmes. 46. In the framework of the present report, some States have provided a self-evaluation of their respective domestic firearms regulations and how they contribute to the protection of human rights. The majority of those States that responded on those questions indicated that the regulation of civilian access to firearms had led to a reduction in homicides caused by firearms59 and better protected the rights to life and security60 and physical integrity of the person.61 Furthermore, many States concurred in their responses that the very establishment of a legal framework to control the possession of firearms has helped prevent firearm-related violations. 47. Among the States providing specific examples of self-evaluation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland indicated that owing to the strict firearms regulations in the country, only 29 fatalities had resulted from offences involving firearms in the period 2013-2014. Australia noted that a there had been an ongoing, gradual decrease in the misuse of firearms and that research had found that a government firearms-buyback programme had cut suicides with the use of a firearm by 74 per cent. Honduras noted that the regulations it had adopted between 2000 and 2013 to control firearms had shown positive results. In Jamaica, national legislation had provided a critical framework for the establishment and implementation of standards and a framework to regulate the possession, use, transfer and disposal of civilian firearms. 48. The effectiveness of firearms control also depends on the enforcement mechanism in place. Thus, in the view of Madagascar, the effectiveness and impact of national regulation depends on the dissemination of public information on the content of the firearms 56 57 58 59 60 61 14 European Commission, Evaluation of the Firearms Directive, final report, 2014 and N. Duquet and M. Van Alstein, Firearms and Violent Deaths in Europe (Brussels, Flemish Peace Institute, 2015). For studies at the national level, see N. Duquet and M. Van Alstein, Gun Control in Belgium: A Review of Effects of the 2006 Weapons Law (Brussels, Flemish Peace Institute, 2015); Government of Canada, “Firearms, accidental deaths, suicides and violent crime: an updated review of the literature with special reference to the Canadian situation”; working document, September 1998, chap. 8, available from www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/jsp-sjp/wd98_4-dt98_4/p8.html; People’s Assembly (South Africa), Infographic: evaluating the impact of firearm regulation on gun-homicides, 2014, available from www.pa.org.za/blog/infographic-evaluating-impact-firearm-regulation-g; D. Cerqueira and J. M. P. de Mello, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Department of Economics, “Evaluating a national anti-firearm law and estimating the causal effect of guns on crime”, available from www.econ.puc-rio.br/pdf/td607.pdf. UNODC, Global Study, p. 69. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report on Citizen Security. Belgium, Burundi and Mauritius. Ecuador and Burundi. Burkina Faso.