"Perhaps sometime in the future, we will take back our government from the grips of the gun industry ....
GOD < I HOPE NOT!
.....and begin to move towards reducing the terrible scourge of gun violence in America."
It's the CRIMINALS, STUPID!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
August 27, 2003
As the Rest of the World Progresses, America Regresses
Commentary
By Tiahna Larsen
Japanese police officials have recently placed an Oregon gun dealer on
their most-wanted list for illegally trafficking weapons into their
country. The dealer, Kozo Wada, is accused of violating the Japanese
Swords and Firearms Control Law for selling firearms to individuals in
Japan through internet auctions. While searching Wada's family home in
Japan, police found a machine gun and six handguns, and have also
connected him to smuggling 150 weapons and 385 rounds of ammunition.
Wada is only one example of the many criminal dealers and traffickers who
funnel guns produced in America to foreign countries. Florida, with its
lax gun laws and geographical position, is often a safe haven for
traffickers who funnel guns into the Caribbean islands and South America.
Furthermore, these weapons are often used by terrorists, such as the
Hezbollah group.
With the epidemic of gun violence rampantly spreading across the world,
many countries are looking to reduce the availability of guns, primarily
targeting traffickers. Two years ago, the United Nations created a plan of
action to combat the world trade in illegal small arms, and countries like
Brazil and South Africa are enacting strict regulations, including
out-right bans, to curb gun circulation.
According to a Geneva-based research group, The Small Arms Survey, there
are an estimated 639 million guns in the world, and almost half (238-276
million) are in America alone. Furthermore, the United States leads the
industrialized world in gun related homicides, even beating out countries
like Zimbabwe and the Philippines, according to a recent article "One
Victim Every Minute," from The Economist Global Agenda.
Unfortunately for Americans and all people throughout the world, while
most countries are progressing by enacting more stringent gun-control
laws, our Congress is horribly regressing. The powerful, criminal gun
lobby, led by the NRA, owns most of Congress and has successfully managed
to create a ventriloquist system, using Senators and Members of Congress
as puppets to push their agenda. Take, for example, the gun industry
immunity bill (S. 659) or Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-UT) recent proposal to
overturn the D.C. handgun ban. The handgun ban in Washington, D.C. has
been on the books since 1976, and District residents overwhelmingly
support it. It is quite disconcerting to think that while countries like
Brazil and Haiti are moving to reduce the number of guns on the streets,
our country simply does nothing, callously disregarding the 30,000
Americans that die each year from gun violence.
Perhaps sometime in the future, we will take back our government from the
grips of the gun industry and begin to move towards reducing the terrible
scourge of gun violence in America.
Tiahna Larsen is a research assistant at Handgun-Free America.
:banghead:
GOD < I HOPE NOT!
.....and begin to move towards reducing the terrible scourge of gun violence in America."
It's the CRIMINALS, STUPID!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
August 27, 2003
As the Rest of the World Progresses, America Regresses
Commentary
By Tiahna Larsen
Japanese police officials have recently placed an Oregon gun dealer on
their most-wanted list for illegally trafficking weapons into their
country. The dealer, Kozo Wada, is accused of violating the Japanese
Swords and Firearms Control Law for selling firearms to individuals in
Japan through internet auctions. While searching Wada's family home in
Japan, police found a machine gun and six handguns, and have also
connected him to smuggling 150 weapons and 385 rounds of ammunition.
Wada is only one example of the many criminal dealers and traffickers who
funnel guns produced in America to foreign countries. Florida, with its
lax gun laws and geographical position, is often a safe haven for
traffickers who funnel guns into the Caribbean islands and South America.
Furthermore, these weapons are often used by terrorists, such as the
Hezbollah group.
With the epidemic of gun violence rampantly spreading across the world,
many countries are looking to reduce the availability of guns, primarily
targeting traffickers. Two years ago, the United Nations created a plan of
action to combat the world trade in illegal small arms, and countries like
Brazil and South Africa are enacting strict regulations, including
out-right bans, to curb gun circulation.
According to a Geneva-based research group, The Small Arms Survey, there
are an estimated 639 million guns in the world, and almost half (238-276
million) are in America alone. Furthermore, the United States leads the
industrialized world in gun related homicides, even beating out countries
like Zimbabwe and the Philippines, according to a recent article "One
Victim Every Minute," from The Economist Global Agenda.
Unfortunately for Americans and all people throughout the world, while
most countries are progressing by enacting more stringent gun-control
laws, our Congress is horribly regressing. The powerful, criminal gun
lobby, led by the NRA, owns most of Congress and has successfully managed
to create a ventriloquist system, using Senators and Members of Congress
as puppets to push their agenda. Take, for example, the gun industry
immunity bill (S. 659) or Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-UT) recent proposal to
overturn the D.C. handgun ban. The handgun ban in Washington, D.C. has
been on the books since 1976, and District residents overwhelmingly
support it. It is quite disconcerting to think that while countries like
Brazil and Haiti are moving to reduce the number of guns on the streets,
our country simply does nothing, callously disregarding the 30,000
Americans that die each year from gun violence.
Perhaps sometime in the future, we will take back our government from the
grips of the gun industry and begin to move towards reducing the terrible
scourge of gun violence in America.
Tiahna Larsen is a research assistant at Handgun-Free America.
:banghead: 
