A U.N. conference aimed at curbing the world trade in illegal small arms has opened in New York, and Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan twice stressed in his opening statement that the focus of the two-week conference is on curtailing illegal weapons, "not negotiating a global gun ban or denying law-abiding citizens their right to bear arms in accordance with their national laws."
His words were aimed at the authors of the hundreds of thousands of hostile letters, e-mails and faxes from gun owners, reports Business Day, because the NRA and other gun rights groups say the U.N.'s real aim is to stop citizens from owning firearms.
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association of America, has said of the conference, "Dictatorships, terrorist states and so-called ‘free’ nations of the world plan to meet on our home soil to finalise a U.N. treaty that would strip all citizens of all nations of their right to self-protection . . . If millions of gun owners speak with one thundering voice of outrage, we’ll stop the global gun ban treaty before it destroys our firearm freedoms.” LaPierre expanded on that statement today on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" show.
He said, "Everything they, those at the U.N., do is to take guns away from law abiding citizens throughout the world and give guns only to the governments of the world."
He explained, "In U.N.-speak, a legal gun is a government gun, an illicit gun is a non-government gun. And that means individual citizens and it also means any freedom fighter that is opposing some genocidal government."
Co-host Steve Doocy asked, "What do you think is going to happen?"
LaPierre answered, "I think this is probably the biggest long-term threat to the second amendment down the road. They're dead serious about doing this. "What's happened is the old nuke freeze movement that fought Reagan on the [arms] buildup - when the Soviet Union collapsed they needed something to do. They worked themselves into gun-ban groups and basically hijacked the disarmament machinery of the United Nations.
LaPierre went on to say, "The sad thing is, the U.N. philosophy is about governments. They don't think about individual rights. They don't think about individual freedoms. And there's not one of those countries coming to that conference that has a Bill of Rights like the U.S. does."
Doocy added, "Here in the United States, when we've got a problem, we say, 'Call your congressman.' But when you're dealing with the U.N., there's no one you can contact . . ." "No. They want to be a global nanny. They want to give a global permission slip. They don't think in terms of individual rights, self-defense, privacy," said LaPierre. "They think in terms of global registry, data banks, surveillance systems, and ultimately giving all guns to the government and leaving honest people totally defenseless." http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...27/91047.shtml
You can also listen to NRA news. Very interesting. http://www.nranews.com/nra.html What is interesting to me is that most of these people are very intelligent. Correct me if I'm wrong on that please. I'm just a high school graduate, mom, wife. I did not go to college. I know that you can take law abiding citizens guns away. People who ordinarily obey most of the laws. I say that because some of us have a tendency with a lead foot. And I'm sure there are others but, tying to keep this a little shorter. These ordinary citizens will obey the law and turn in their guns. But, the criminal minded person is not gonna change his or her mind and say I'm going to do the right thing now and turn in my gun. And those who buy and sell guns illegally are not going to say I'm not going to do this any more. Since the law of the land has changed now I need to stop selling guns illegally. Why can these people not figure this out?
Debby: I think you said it perfectly, no one has any idea how many illegal guns there are in the world and the people who possess them will never give them up. One of the biggest fears criminal use to have was the knowledge that the next home they were about to rob or the next car they thought about stealing might have an owner with a gun and the skill to use it. And as far as the U.N is concerned their goal is to throw out individual liberties and be big brother. While in the military it made me sick every time it looked like we would have to take off our American Flag shoulder patch and sew on a U.N flag. I thank God that each time our unit got passed over for those assignments. I say put a lock on the door of the U.N Building and send all of the freeloading, law exempt, third world power hungry ( ) (being a Christian prevents me from filling in the blanks) back to where ever they came from. We are a free people we do not need the consent of the U.N to do anything, nor their permission to live our lives as we please. God Bless America!
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Gun owners accuse U.N. of July 4 conspiracy
U.N.: Rumor of plan to take away weapons a ‘total misconception’
Did you know?
Quote:
UNITED NATIONS - Americans mistakenly worried the United Nations is plotting to take away their guns on July 4 — U.S. Independence Day — are flooding the world body with angry letters and postcards, the chairman of a U.N. conference on the illegal small arms trade said on Wednesday.
“I myself have received over 100,000 letters from the U.S. public, criticizing me personally, saying, ‘You are having this conference on the 4th of July, you are not going to get our guns on that day,’” said Prasad Kariyawasam, Sri Lanka’s U.N. ambassador.
“That is a total misconception as far as we are concerned,” Kariyawasam told reporters ahead of the two-week meeting opening on Monday.
For one, July 4 is a holiday at U.N. headquarters and the world body’s staff will be watching a fireworks display from the U.N. lawn rather than attending any meetings, he said.
For another, the U.N. conference will look only at illegal arms and “does not in any way address legal possession,” a matter left to national governments to regulate rather than the United Nations, he added.
The campaign is largely the work of the U.S. National Rifle Association, whose executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, warns on an NRA Web site (http://www.stopungunban.org/) of a July 4 plot “to finalize a U.N. treaty that would strip all citizens of all nations of their right to self-protection.”
Kariyawasam said, “The U.N. conference will not negotiate any treaty to prohibit citizens of any country from possessing firearms or to interfere with the legal trade in small arms and light weapons.”
A sales pitch
LaPierre, who also uses the site to pitch his new book, “The Global War on Your Guns,” asks NRA members to send letters to Kariyawasam and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warning that “the American people will never let you take away the rights that our 4th of July holiday represents.”
The group also asks members to write to John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, urging him to “ensure the defeat of this treaty.” Bolton’s office confirmed he had received tens of thousands of cards from concerned Americans.
“We understand their concerns and will work during the conference to communicate their concerns,” Bolton spokesman Richard Grenell said.
At the same time, 1 million people around the world — symbolizing the number of people killed by guns since the last U.N. small arms conference in 2001 — have signed a petition backing stronger controls on arms deals in a campaign organized by Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms.
The June 26-July 7 U.N. conference was called to review a 2001 U.N. action plan aimed at stemming the illegal global trade in small arms, which, as defined by the United Nations, range from pistols and grenades to mortars and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.
The action program set out broad guidelines for national and global measures to track arms sales, promote better management of government arms stockpiles and encourage the destruction of illicit arms.
Annan warns of 'violence culture'
Quote:
The UN secretary-general has spoken of the "mass destruction" caused by small weapons, at a conference looking at ways to restrict their use.
Kofi Annan said the proliferation of light weapons such as machine guns had spawned a "culture of violence".
He was speaking at a UN conference in New York which is considering ways to tackle the global spread of small arms.
Anti-gun campaigners presented him with a petition calling for tighter controls on the trade in such weapons.
The Control Arms campaign is backed by the inventor of the infamous AK-47 rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov.
The retired general has blamed a "lack of international control over arms sales" for allowing the weapons he designed to fall into the hands of "aggressors, terrorists and all kinds of criminals".
But major arms exporters including the US, Russia and China have yet to endorse calls for tighter regulations making governments more accountable for the arms they export.
In his opening speech to the Small Arms Review Conference, Mr Annan said: "In a world awash with small arms, a quarter of the estimated four billion [dollar] annual global gun trade is believed to be illicit.
"Small arms are easy to buy, easy to use, easy to transport and easy to conceal.
"Their continued proliferation exacerbates conflict, sparks, refugee flows, undermines the rule of law and spawns a culture of violence and impunity."
The secretary-general stressed the UN's efforts were directed at the spread of illegal weapons.
"Our targets remain unscrupulous arms brokers, corrupt officials, drug trafficking syndicates, criminals and others who bring death and mayhem into our communities," he said.
'Global principles'
Before the conference opened, the Control Arms campaign presented its petition containing one million signatures from 160 countries - representing the number of people killed by guns since the last UN conference on small arms in 2001.
The campaign's report, produced by Amnesty International, Oxfam International and the International Action Network on Small Arms said light arms were killing 1,000 people a day.
The report found the AK-47 was the world's most poorly-regulated small arms weapon.
It said 82 countries had them in their state arsenal and 14 nations manufactured them. The rifle fires 600 rounds a minute, is reliable and available for as little as $30 (£16) in some parts of Africa.
In giving his backing to the Control Arms campaign, Mr Kalashnikov said: "When I watch TV and see small arms of the AK family in the hands of bandits, I keep asking myself: how did those people get hold of them?"
The "global principles" that the campaign proposes would be non-binding, but would allow governments to bring violators to account more easily.
The UK has made a similar proposal and has the backing in principle of the US and others.
But US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton made it clear Washington did not want to go beyond a programme adopted five years ago to curb the illicit sale of light weaponry.
"We don't see any need for treaties or agreements coming out of this," he said.
It seems to me this is only to curb illegal trade of small weapons... the UN people are having to constantly say that "hey we're not trying to take your guns away -- we're trying to solve a big problem."
Annan receives arms petition by one-millionth signer, vows to transmit call onward Annan presented with Million Faces plaque26 June 2006 – The Million Faces Petition, which organizers billed as the world’s largest appeal for tougher global controls on the arms trade, was presented to Secretary-General Kofi Annan today in New York by a consortium of international groups as well as the one millionth petitioner – a survivor of gun violence from Kenya. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...small&Cr1=arms
He voiced hope that participants would agree on measures to strengthen the implementation of the Programme of Action. “It is only through our joint, tangible and effective efforts on the ground, that we will be able to combat the scourge of illicit trafficking of small arms,” he said. The Conference opened with the election of its President, Sri Lankan Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam. This was followed by several addresses at the ministerial level, including by Austria on behalf of the European Union, Iran, Mozambique and several other countries. More than 2,000 representatives from governments, international and regional organizations and civil society will take part in the two-week event. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...small&Cr1=arms
http://www.un.org/apps/news/search.asp here is the link for more stories. I hope you can see the underlining tone for riding Americans of their arms. You don't have to respond.
um debby... the link to msnbc was a Reuters story... not MSNBC. There was a big picture of Reuters right at the top of the article and at the end of it.
And I couldn't count on 500 peoples hands and feet the number of times Brian Kilmeade or Bill O'Reilley has called someone a liar -- and not Dr. James Dobson... they did it to Senators, Representatives and other government officials.
But on topic, I don't think so. It just seems like they are trying to help control these illegal small gun trades. Like how'd a small machine gun get into a 3rd world country in Africa...
Last edited by mmcd3182; 06-30-2006 at 08:25 AM.
Life is something that you can't control.
When you try to hold on to it, it makes you let go!
ummm mmcd it was not Brian whatever and he called Dr. Dobson a liar in an email To Me. So yes he did call Dr. Dobson a liar. And I do not trust nor watch msnbc. And on top of that said he was a Chistian. whew! Wouldn't wanna be him. And you can go on believeing they do not want to take our guns all ya want. Your not changing my mind. And I obviously do not believe your sources.
ummm mmcd it was not Brian whatever and he called Dr. Dobson a liar in an email To Me. So yes he did call Dr. Dobson a liar. And I do not trust nor watch msnbc. And on top of that said he was a Chistian. whew! Wouldn't wanna be him. And you can go on believeing they do not want to take our guns all ya want. Your not changing my mind. And I obviously do not believe your sources.
well Brian whatever is from FOX news.. not MSNBC so how could he have called Dobson a liar on MSNBC? he works for FOX! ... and who was emailing you from MSNBC and called Dobson a liar -- do you know someone at MSNBC?
by the way... Reuters is often classified as right-wing conservative. so that's interesting that you dont' believe them. Their stories are used in probably every paper in the country, just like the associated press (AP).
Life is something that you can't control.
When you try to hold on to it, it makes you let go!
Annan presented with Million Faces plaque26 June 2006 – The Million Faces Petition, which organizers billed as the world’s largest appeal for tougher global controls on the arms trade, was presented to Secretary-General Kofi Annan today in New York by a consortium of international groups as well as the one millionth petitioner – a survivor of gun violence from Kenya.
PawPaws Darling
