UN Conference Closes
After Marathon Negotiations
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"...[I am disappointed with the] inability to agree...on language recognizing the
need to establish and retain controls on private ownership..." |
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-- Conference President Camilo Reyes Rodriguez of Columbia |
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"...We must further regulate the legal trade in arms..." |
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-- Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Jozias van Aartsen |
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"...[I]t is of utmost importance to build a society where small arms are no
longer necessary..." |
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-- Seiken Sugiura, Japan's senior vice minister for foreign affairs |
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John R. Bolton |
U.N. View of Second Amendment Rights |
The two-week "U.N. Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms
and Light Weapons in all its Aspects" concluded at 6:00 a.m. on
the morning of July 21 - beyond the originally-scheduled closing
date of July 20 - after delegates worked through the night to
accommodate negotiations over core provisions of the conference's
intended product. That product - a non-binding "Draft Programme of
Action" - had been touted by U.N. officials as an effort to try to
curtail the "illicit trade in small arms," but the initial
"Programme" clearly sought to go well beyond its alleged intent
by directing U.N. member countries to restrict all civilian
ownership of firearms.
The conference opened with a strong
warning from U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and
International Security Affairs John R. Bolton that the United
States would not support any proposal that included attacks on
our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, but other nations spurned U.S.
concerns by pressing relentlessly for such provisions.
Throughout the meetings, several revised versions of the
"Programme" were released, and all but the final contained
provisions that remained unacceptable to U.S. negotiators.
Meanwhile, the anti-gun extremists at the U.N. received support
for their efforts through the anti-gun members of the
"mainstream" media in the U.S. and around the world.
The
intentional misinformation campaign regarding the intentions of
the "Programme" was widespread. The U.N. put out a release that
claimed the focus of the Conference was not on "the legal trade,
manufacture or ownership" of firearms, and it would "have no
effect on the rights of civilians to legally own and bear arms."
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan claimed, "This week's
conference is not meant...to take guns away from their legal
owners."
But during the conference, Dutch Foreign Affairs
Minister Jozias van Aartsen stated, "We must further regulate the
legal trade in arms," and Seiken Sugiura, Japan's senior vice
minister for foreign affairs, proclaimed, "In our view, it is of
utmost importance to build a society where small arms are no
longer necessary."
And when all was said and done, and the final
"Programme" was agreed to, Conference President Camilo Reyes
Rodriguez of Columbia stated he was disappointed with the
conference's "inability to agree...on language recognizing the
need to establish and retain controls on private ownership" of
firearms.
The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), an
anti-gun non-governmental organization (NGO) aligned with nearly
200 anti-gun organizations throughout the world, stated it was
"particularly concerned that a number of critical commitments
have been left out of the final program of action," specifically,
"any reference to regulate civilian possession of [firearms]."
Clearly disappointed with the outcome of the conference, the
global gun-ban brigade refuses to accept defeat. Already, the
government of Columbia has announced that it will force another
discussion of "small arms" at the U.N. next week! The rotating
presidency of the U.N. Security Council will be held by Columbia
for the month of August, and Columbia's U.N. mission has decided
to devote August 2 to an "open debate" on further efforts to
regulate firearms.
Please contact the U.S. Department of State
to encourage the U.S. delegates to the U.N. to hold fast to the
hard-line positions set by Under Secretary Bolton. Contact
information for the U.S. Department of State is:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
(202)647-4000
e-mail - Secretary@state.gov
Related Stories...
U.N. Conference On "Small Arms" Opens With Strong Warning From U.S.
U.N. Conference On "Small Arms" Continues Beyond Deadline
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