IANSA Throws Down Gauntlet (37 days out)

[K-Romulus]

Just 37 days before the 2006 UN Conference on Small Arms ownership, IANSA issued a report today claiming that 1000 people around the world are "killed by guns" each day.

(http://www.iansa.org/members/IANSA-media-briefing-low-res.pdf)

The report breaks that number down:

Of these 1000 deaths every day, an average 560 are criminal homicides, 250 are direct war deaths; 140 are suicides, while 50 are accidents or cases of undetermined intent.

The report specifically targets civilian ownership as a "root cause" of these deaths, and also indicates that IANSA intends the 2006 conference to focus on civilan ownership. A lot of the "more likely to kill in a quarrel than self defense" types of sound bites are scattered throughout the report. I like how they put quotes around the term "law-abiding firearm owner."

Here are the stated recommendations re:civilian firearms owners (from page 10 of the report):

2. Regulation of civilian ownership of weapons

To maintain public safety, civilian gun possession must be
recognised as a privilege with associated responsibilities for
maintaining public safety. In most countries, in order to drive a car,
applicants must pass a test proving their fitness to drive before a
licence is issued. If a car crashes killing a pedestrian, the owner of
the car can be identified by checking the registration plate which
will be linked to the owner’s name. Guns are specifically designed
to kill. Yet the majority of countries do not have effective licensing or
registration systems for guns.

Regulation of guns in civilian hands was omitted from the
agreement in 2001 and thus did not form part of states’
obligations in the Programme of Action. Despite this, 70 per cent
of governments have included information on controlling civilian
possession in their reports to the UN since 2001. Governments
clearly understand the importance of regulating civilian possession
in order to prevent diversion; it is time for the UN small arms
process to recognise it too.

Governments should agree to:
• Promote gun owner responsibility by requiring all firearms to be
registered. Individuals permitted to own guns and ammunition
must be held to account for their security, use and misuse.

• Define minimum criteria for private ownership of guns with
a national system of licensing. These should include proven
capacity to handle a gun safely; knowledge of the relevant law;
age limit; proof of valid reason; and a security screening based on
criminal record or history of violence, including intimate partner
violence. Licences should also be required for ammunition.

• Prohibit civilian possession of military-style rifles, including semiautomatic
rifles that can be converted to fully automatic fire and
semi-automatic variants of military weapons.

• Block access to guns for people with a history of violence,
particularly against intimate partners or family members.

• Introduce safe storage requirements to prevent gun accidents,
suicide, misuse and theft.

• Regulate manufacturers and dealers. A national register of all
manufacturers and their distribution network, including firearm
dealers, would help prevent diversion to illicit use.

There is an inset on page 10 that trumpets the Australian model of civilian firearms law as an "effective national gun law," obviously holding it out as the global standard to adopt at the UN Small Arms Conference.

It's time to upgrade my NRA membership . . .

 

[Diomed]

I think we all know the outcome of this "conference" is predetermined. The only unknown is how many countries will follow Rebecca the piper down her bleak path to a rather cold river.

 

[Vex]

I wonder if, in the minds of the leftist UN, they actually believe they have the authority and power to come into our country and try to take our guns. Wouldn't that be rather.... interesting.

 

[Sindawe]

It's time to upgrade my NRA membership . . .

To each his own. Me? It's time to buy more ammo and up the frequency of practice.

 

[Combat-wombat]

It's time to upgrade my NRA membership . . .

To each his own. Me? It's time to buy more ammo and up the frequency of practice.

I agree with Sindawe. While an NRA membership can be positive for the RKBA, I think buying guns and ammunition is a better use for the money. Even if I decide to donate to a pro-gun organization, it will most likely go to the GOA first.

 

[SomeKid]

It is almost worth a poll thread.

What do you do do if your guns are about to be confisctaed by...

US Gov

Fight in court-
Fight with lead-
Surrender-

UN

Fight-
Surrender-

I would bet money fighting in court would win if it was a US confiscation, but it would be overwhelming 'Kill the blue helmets' if the UN tried it.

Regardless, if we had a President who had a pair, it would be a good thing if the UN tried. We might actually get some isolationism back into the foreign policy again.

 

[Kamicosmos]

All the NRA bashers are actually wrong about NRA on the UN stuff.
The NRA actually debates Peters on this stuff. New issue of 1st Freedom has a a couple articles on this upcoming 'vote' along with pretyped up and addressed postcards to the UN.


I haven't even gotten an email from GOA about it, and I know my GOA-member friends haven't gotten anything about it.


Anyway, back to the topic....

 

[El Tejon]

I see a typo. The article says "killed by guns" when it should read "killed by governments."

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

To each his own. Me? It's time to buy more ammo and up the frequency of practice.

$20 won't buy you much ammo or practice.... and I'll guarantee you that if it came to what you were thinking of, you would regret not sending the NRA $20 to avoid it a lot more than you would regret missing that practice.

I'd agree though that you may not want to upgrade your membership. Membership dues are limited by charter as to where they can be spent. Sending money to NRA-ILA or NRA-PVF allows all of that money to be used for political lobbying; but sending money to any UN-recognized prog-gun NGO (a pretty small list anyway) helps.

Anybody else notice that the UN has scheduled its Small Arms Conference for the Fourth of July? What do you think they are trying to say with that?

 

[G36-UK]

I read about this in yesterday's Metro.

If they do go for a new treaty and send the peacekeepers in, I'll get the first plane over to help you guys out.

 

[carlrodd]

I read about this in yesterday's Metro.

If they do go for a new treaty and send the peacekeepers in, I'll get the first plane over to help you guys out. -G36-UK

you can stay at my house. ever had scrapple?

 

[boofus]

According to the 2004 FBI Uniform Crime Reports 9,500 murders were committed with firearms in the US. If you consider that an average year, then over a century 950,000 murders with firearms would happen in the US.

Now over the 20th century 100,000,000 were slaughtered by their UN member governments.

It would take Americans with our 'barbaric' gun laws roughly 105 years to match 1 year of killings done by the UN and their member governments which include such sterling examples as Sudan, USSR, China, Cambodia, Turkey, etc...

 

[AJAX22]

If this passes, and they try to enforce confiscation, I recommend everyone goes open carry, ccw or not, and not just handguns, full rifles, just go about daily life in open defiance.

I'm not fighting it in court, but I will fight it.

 

[El Tejon]

boofu, aha! I have detected the logical flaw in your reasoning.

You see those genocides were legit as they were carried out with governmental sanction and thus legal.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

LaPierre's latest book is about this. IANSA's plan, as I'm sure you all guessed, is basically a scam to impose UK/Australian-style gun control on Americans, and is laughably hypotitical. They want registration/transparency at all levels, but only for civillian-owned firearms. That is, they don't require even serial numbers for guns sold to governments. Governments kill orders of magnitude more people than does crime, and this conferance on its title claims to be talking about small arms in general, but it is centrally focused on grabbing American guns, if you didn't realize that from the date they are holding this.

LaPierre's book also covers various U.N. scandals in an effort to show how corrput, pathetic, and downright evil it is/can be. There's also a chapter that sort of comes out of nowhere, in that it isn't related to the U.N., that was put in there (I think) in reaction to the "incorporation" arguement against the 2nd Amendment not gauranteeing the right to bear arms against state infringement. He makes the case that the 14th Amendment ("No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States") was enacted by Congress specifically to stop such acts as state's attempting to prevent freed slaves from owning guns.

 

[Third_Rail]

boofus, especially the Turks. My wife is first born in America from Greek Cypriots, and the home her family owns is now Turkish; their church, a ruined rubble; their backyard now is painted with (literally) a 300 foot tall Turkish flag. Not all of her family was so lucky as to have escaped when the "peacekeeping forces" landed.


What amazes me is that some members of her family are still very anti-gun.

 

[Phetro]

A Slight Problem

So, they are saying that 1,000 people die every day after being shot...in a world of over 5,000,000,000 people. Sounds like the odds of getting shot are pretty low!

 

[Smurfslayer]

It's worth some thought...

Are the bluehelmets coming?

Probably not. However it is within the ability of the UN Member states to seek sanctions imposed upon other nations. It won't happen overnight, but the day is coming when WE are going to get sanctioned by the UN for getting uppity with them. Frankly, we need to get out of the mindset of working within the UN and boot them from our soil. Make them put their HQ in the country of their most exalted leader.

We need to stop the trough of taxpayer money flushed down the toilet in aid each year to terrorist supporting, enabling or othewise tolerant nations and make them live within their OWN means. WE as citizens have to do it, so should our government, and if they want our aid, so should our beneficiaries governments. And yes, aid to the UN should be ceased immediately if their "conference" endorses anything contrary to ANY provision of our Constitution. Let's see the bluehelmets resolve world problems without US money.

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

Here is a little experiment we all can try. Those of you who still watch/read the "mainstream" press start counting the "guns bad, gun control good" stories on CBS, etal. prior to the IANSA meeting.

The press will try to frame this meeting with their propaganda, even more so if there is a Columbine type event they can hype. (If there isn't they will dredge up the old ones).

After you have seen the propaganda occur, reflect on past events which conveniently meshed with the media's stories.

Then, like me, you might not like the taste of the Kool Aid anymore.

 

[boofus]

CBS? Television? What is this nightly news of which you speak?

My TV's only purpose is to display images for my playstation and dvd player.

 

[ArmedBear]

So, to all those who think that things would be the same with anti-gun John Kerry in office, the AWB renewed permanently, a suckup at the UN instead of John Bolton, and some more internationalist judges instead of Alito and Roberts -- whether you like them or not -- please explain to me how we can advance our cause by "punishing the GOP" this year by voting Democrat (or casting a protest vote with similar results).

Perhaps Majority Leader Schumer would make sure no UN treaty was ratified. Maybe Speaker Pelosi would push legislation reaffirming RKBA no matter what the UN does, and maybe more legislation to defund the UN. Yeah, that's it.

Reality check.

 

[Daniel T]

It won't happen overnight, but the day is coming when WE are going to get sanctioned by the UN for getting uppity with them.

Can't happen, as the US has absolute veto power...

...unless we allow to happen. Pretty unlikely, but if the liberals get control of all 3 branches and all huff gasonline on the same day, I suppose it could.

 

[ArmedBear]

if the liberals...all huff gasonline on the same day

That's a done deal. All WE can do is keep them out of office.

 

[K-Romulus]

IANSA is working on that one

Can't happen, as the US has absolute veto power...

The linked report complains about "one or two holdouts" that can ruin the party through their veto power. The IANSA answer is to fix the rules so that "consensus" among UN members means "majority vote," instead of the current meaning of "unanimous."

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

The IANSA answer is to fix the rules so that "consensus" among UN members means "majority vote," instead of the current meaning of "unanimous."

Well, let's see which of the five countries with veto power are going to give up that power for a majority vote of mostly non-democratic kleptocracies? My guess is a big fat zero... (especially since two of the five, Russia and China are the worst offenders with regards to exporting small arms without controls).