United States, United Nations
McCain on Gun Control, Gun Shows, Assault Weapons, the UN and the NRA
America's 1st Freedom / National Rifle Association of America
1 June 2008
To say that the 2008 elections will be crucial for the future of the Second Amendment would be an understatement. Future efforts to preserve our gun rights and our hunting heritage hinge on who will take the helm at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox recently sat down with presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain. They asked him some direct... ( gunpolicy.org )
Europe, United States, United Nations
NATO Hosts Conference on Global Threat Posed by Proliferation of Guns
Xinhua
29 May 2008
BRUSSELS -- A three-day international conference opened at the NATO headquarters on Wednesday to address the global threat posed by the proliferation, illicit trade and use of small arms and light weapons (SALW). The meeting, co-sponsored by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council countries and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, focuses on strengthening the role of regional organizations in addressing the threat.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Europe, United States, United Nations
Europe Hosts OSCE / NATO Forum on Global Threat of Illicit Firearms
United Press International
28 May 2008
BRUSSELS -- A forum being held in Brussels is designed to promote greater cooperation on deterring the global threat posed by the illicit small arms and weapons trade. The three-day conference, which began Wednesday, has brought together security experts from around the world to discuss how to coordinate and harmonize a response to the small arms and light weapons threat. The Synergy Conference for Regional Organizations... ( gunpolicy.org )
Austria, United Nations, Asia, Pacific
Austria Gives 100,000 Euros to UN Centre to Curb Asia-Pacific Gun Running
United Nations (New York), Media release
7 May 2008
Austria will contribute 100,000 to a United Nations project to curb the illicit flows of small arms and light weapons in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the world body's Office for Disarmament Affairs. The funds, pledged by Austria on 5 May, will go towards the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, which requires $2.2 million for its projects and to bolster its institutional capacity. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
Ban Ki-moon Gives First Report on Global Gun Trade to UN Security Council
Associated Press of Pakistan
1 May 2008
UNITED NATIONS -- The uncontrolled trade in small arms and their excessive accumulation and proliferation poses a threat to international peace and security, a senior UN told the Security Council Wednesday. "We have all witnessed how these weapons have been used to maim and kill; plunder and rape; instil fear and insecurity; block humanitarian aid; hold communities at ransom; destroy the social fabric of entire countries; and how... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
UN Security Council Holds Open Debate on Threat of Global Gun Trade
Xinhua
1 May 2008
UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council held on Wednesday an open debate on the threat posed by the illicit flow of small arms to international peace and security. During the meeting, Hannelore Hoppe, deputy to the high representative for disarmament affairs, presented UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's first-ever report on small arms. In the report, the UN chief said that, while a build-up of small arms alone may not... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
UN Urged to Curb Illegal Gun Trade: World Already Has 875 Million Firearms
Malaysia Sun / IANS
1 May 2008
The UN has been urged to fight the illegal trade in small arms and light weapons, which are linked to the deaths of thousands each year in violence tied to internal conflicts and drugs trafficking. Speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), Slovenian ambassador Sanja Stiglic Wednesday said the EU considers the proliferation of those types of weapons around the world as among the 'most dangerous challenges and threats to global... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
UN Chief Urges Countries to Enhance Data Sharing on Guns, Ammunition
Associated Press of Pakistan
24 April 2008
UNITED NATIONS -- UN Member States need to increase their collection, maintenance and sharing of data on small arms as part of measures to encourage disarmament, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says. These weapons are "cheap, light and easy to handle, transport and conceal," Ban wrote in his first-ever report on the topic. "While a build-up of small arms alone may not create the conflicts in which they are used, their excessive... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada, United Nations, World
Nations View Global Burden of Gun Violence Through a Development Lens
Ottawa Citizen (Ontario), Opinion
9 April 2008
Poor countries are less safe than rich ones. Most of the world's 30-odd armed conflicts are raging in the global South. As a country's human development ranking declines, its risk of succumbing to violent conflict grows. More than one-third of all countries mired in poverty experienced war since the late 1990s. Fewer than two per cent of rich countries experienced conflict over the same period. The international aid community has... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada, United Nations
Global Gun Trade Treaty Eludes Student Consensus in Canada's Model UN
South Asian Focus (Ontario)
13 March 2008
Leave it to our kids to make the rules, and the world could well become a better place. Resolutions they recently undertook as simulated United Nations members included far more rigorous regulation of the arms trade -- and in some instances an effective ban on arms transfer to potential global hot spots. The Sri Lankan delegation suggested a non-partisan body composed of 15 neutral third-party diplomats have to power to... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, Africa, Middle East, World
Arrest of Notorious Gun Runner Highlights Need for Global Arms Trade Treaty
Guardian (UK) / Comment is Free, Web Page
10 March 2008
Viktor Vassilyevich Bout began his career transporting flowers and frozen chickens across Africa. He quickly moved on to diamonds, mining equipment, Kalashnikov assault rifles, bullets and helicopter gunships. Having evaded an international arrest warrant for more than five years, the notorious Russian arms dealer was finally arrested this week in Thailand. Dubbed the "merchant of death", Bout is regarded as one of the most prolific arms... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, World
Jailed Global Gun Runner Bout Will Be Quickly Replaced: UN Treaty Needed
Center for Defense Information (USA), Web Page
10 March 2008
On March 6, 2008 Thai police arrested the notorious arms broker Viktor Bout on charges of supplying arms and explosives to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a Colombian rebel group cited by the United States as a terrorist organization. Bout is among the world's most well-known arms brokers, credited with supplying weapons that have fueled some of the bloodiest wars in the last two decades. He has been accused of violating... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Experts Meet at UN for First Talks on Possible Global Gun Trade Treaty
Islamic Republic News Agency
12 February 2008
Experts have gathered at United Nations headquarters in New York to begin talks on a possible treaty governing the trade in conventional arms. UN Information Center in Tehran said that the five-day meeting brings together nearly 30 countries that are members of the Group of Governmental Experts examining the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international... ( gunpolicy.org )
Peru, United Nations
Peru's Gun Control Agency, UN Make Plans to Incinerate 35,000 Guns
Living in Peru (Lima), Web Page
15 January 2008
Abiding by international peace and disarmament policies, the Peruvian General Directorate for the Control of Security Services, Guns, Ammunitions and Explosives for Civil Use (DICSCAMEC) is to incinerate 35,240 firearms within the next several months. Since DICSCAMEC depends on Peru's Ministry of the Interior, it is waiting for the Ministry to define the date on which the firearms will be destroyed, said the general director of... ( gunpolicy.org )
Uganda, United Nations, Myanmar
UN Gun Destruction Scheme Contributes to Human Rights Abuse in Uganda
America's 1st Freedom, Jan 2008 / National Rifle Association of America, Opinion
20 December 2007
While the United Nations works diligently to curb the Second Amendment rights of Americans, it is turning a blind eye to abused Karamojong tribesmen fighting a brutal government to keep their only means of self-defense. International gun prohibition groups are working hard and successfully to push an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) through the United Nations. They claim that the reason the treaty is needed is that arms are often used to... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, World, United Nations
Child Soldiers Master AK-47 in 30 Minutes, Can Kill As Effectively as Adults
Age (Melbourne)
16 December 2007
In just 30 minutes, a young boy can master the use of an AK-47 machine gun. And a split second can turn him into a killer. When Radhika Coomaraswamy first met a child soldier in Africa, she felt surprise and fear. "These boys come in with the swagger of grown men. They've been carrying guns, they have big shoulders, they act very masculine," she said. But meeting these battle-scarred fighters, aged between 10 and 15, she... ( gunpolicy.org )
Uganda, United Nations
Ugandan Military Explodes Tonnes of Old Munitions with UN, US Help
ReliefWeb, Media release
8 November 2007
KINSHASA, Uganda -- UNV volunteers have helped the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces to blow up more than 460 tonnes of decommissioned, redundant and obsolete ammunition and ordinances. The event was the largest of its kind in the country and comprised an assortment of bombs, rockets, grenades, shells and bullets that were destroyed in a series of massive explosions of 10-15 tonnes of material at a time. UNV helped organise... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
UK Leads Surge in More Transparent UN Reporting of Gun Exports, Sales
Arms Control Today (USA)
1 November 2007
The number of countries voluntarily providing data to the United Nations on their small arms and light weapons trade has jumped substantially this year, shedding new light on the pervasiveness and complexity of this often murky commerce. As of early October, 30 states had declared their small arms and light weapons trade for 2006 to the voluntary UN Register of Conventional Arms, accounting for more than 535,000 weapons exported... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
US Presidential Candidate Decries UN Efforts to Curb Illicit Gun Trafficking
The Gun Nut (USA), Blog
29 October 2007
My Fellow Americans: I will be brief. Yesterday, I was contacted by a Mr. Paul Henke, who handles "new media" relations for Fred Thompson, the tallest Republican presidential candidate who is also an actor. Mr. Henke has sent us the following statement, which the Gun Nut is running as a public service. The statement is about the U.N.'s position on the individual ownership of guns: ++++ Last year, the United Nations... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, Iraq, World
US Small Arms Policy: Having It Both Ways - Susan Waltz [Part 1 of 2]
World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
19 October 2007
"An essential element of the success of the U.S. program is its export control laws and regulations. These laws are internationally recognized as the most robust and effective in the world.... [At the 2006 UN Review Conference on Small Arms] the United States will make the case that its laws, practices and enforcement procedures are effective models other nations should follow." -- Assistant Secretary of State John Hillen, Baltimore... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, Iraq, World
US Small Arms Policy: Having It Both Ways - Susan Waltz [Part 2 of 2]
World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
19 October 2007
[Continued from Part 1 of 2] Prying Open the Door Covert actions provide an additional, separate legal channel for shadow transfers. The statutory underpinnings for such operations, including weapons transfers, are found in the National Security Act, incorporated into Title 50 of the U.S. Code under the heading of War and National Defense. (The Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act, by contrast, are included... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, Iraq, World
US Small Arms Policy: Having It Both Ways - World Policy Journal
World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
19 October 2007
Does United States policy indeed represent the gold standard for export controls on small arms, as often asserted? Recent events suggest that it is time for a fresh look at this common claim. Ten years ago the United States and its European partners began to grapple with new realities about the proliferation of small arms. In the early 1990s, the forces that dissolved the Soviet Union also pried locks off the central warehouses... ( gunpolicy.org )
Papua New Guinea, United Nations
I Watched a Gunman Shoot My Mother: PNG Survivor Lobbies at the UN
Age (Melbourne), Opinion
16 October 2007
My suitcase packed and airport taxi booked, I checked my wallet once again. I flicked through my passport with its newly stamped visa for the United States and the accompanying letter. It was addressed to Miss Vavine Gabi and invited me to attend the UN First Committee on Disarmament in New York. My task was to lobby diplomats from the Pacific region as they prepared to draft an international treaty on the arms trade. I would be... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations
An Arms Trade Treaty Is Needed, But African Nations Also Need More Guns
Arab News (Jeddah), Editorial
12 October 2007
Yesterday's release of a report by the highly regarded international aid organization Oxfam spelled out in detail how wars and insurgencies have cost African countries $18 billion a year since 1990. It compels us to pay attention, especially when the preface is by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, a country that knows only too well the costs of civil war. The report makes sober reading. The money lost could have been... ( gunpolicy.org )
Venezuela, Uruguay, Iran, United Nations
Uruguay, Venezuela 'Caught' Busting UN Sanctions, Buying Iranian Ammo
Washington Times
12 October 2007
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia -- Uruguayan parliamentary investigators said they blocked an attempt by their government to purchase arms from Iran, using a diversion through Venezuela to try to evade U.N. sanctions on the Tehran government. Some 15,000 rounds of Iranian-made 5.56 mm ammunition were loaded onto a Uruguayan navy ship in Venezuela before the attempt was discovered, said Javier Garcia of Uruguay's opposition National Party in... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations, World
Africa Needs Global Gun Trade Treaty to Curb War, Massive Economic Loss
Bloomberg (USA)
11 October 2007
Armed conflict has cost sub-Saharan Africa about $284 billion over 15 years, equal to the amount of international aid the world's poorest continent has received in the same period, Oxfam International said. Oxfam, in a report it published today with two groups that promote non-violence, said Africa is losing more than $18 billion a year on conflict. The average war shrinks an African nation's economy by 15 percent, according to... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, Kenya, Africa, United Nations, United Kingdom
Baby's Gun Death Sparks Family's Campaign to Curb Global Gun Violence
Scotsman (Edinburgh)
11 October 2007
Four years ago, on a warm summer evening in July 2003, a young Turkish woman was relaxing in a café in the fishing resort of Foca in south-west Turkey, her young son asleep in his pram beside her. Ozlem Grimason had been enjoying a family holiday in her native country with her Scottish husband, David, and their two-year-old son, Alistair. David had just gone back to the couple's home in East Kilbride -- a couple of days early,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations, World
Devastating Cost of Africa's Gun Violence: £150bn and Millions of Lives
Guardian (UK)
11 October 2007
Conflicts in Africa since the end of the cold war have cost the continent £150bn, equivalent to all the foreign aid it has received over the same period, according to a report released by Oxfam today. The study, Africa's Missing Billions, says that almost half of the countries on the continent have been involved in some form of conflict since 1990 at a substantial cost to lives and development. The report compares African... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations, World
First Global Gun Trade Treaty Would Particularly Benefit Africa, Experts Say
IRIN (UN News)
11 October 2007
DAKAR -- The creation of a global Arms Trade Treaty currently being debated by the United Nations' first committee would particularly benefit Africa according to various arms control experts. "Arms don't necessary cause conflicts in Africa but they do fuel them and make them bloodier and more costly," Oxfam's Debbie Hillier, a policy advisor on small arms who spoke to IRIN. She is the lead author of a study released on... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations
Global Gun Trade a Big Contributor to Death, Poverty of Millions of Africans
Reuters
11 October 2007
JOHANNESBURG -- Wars stripped about $284 billion from Africa's economies between 1990 and 2005, roughly equal to the amount of aid money given to the world's poorest continent, according to a report on Thursday by Oxfam International. In the study "Africa's Missing Billions," the British aid group said the 23 conflicts engulfing Africa in the period had shrunk economies by an average 15 percent per year at a cost of almost $18 billion... ( gunpolicy.org )
Ghana, Africa, United Nations
Global Gun Trade Treaty: 15 Years of Gun Violence Have Cost Africa $300bn
Accra Daily Mail (Ghana)
11 October 2007
The cost of conflict on African development was approximately $300bn between 1990 and 2005, according to new research by Oxfam International, IANSA and Saferworld. This is equal to the amount of money received in international aid during the same period. The study "Africa's Missing Billions" is the first time analysts have estimated the overall effects of conflict on GDP across the continent and comes as diplomats from around the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Africa, United Nations
Kenyan Tribal Elder Asks the Question: How Do All These Guns Get Here?
BBC News (Scotland)
11 October 2007
Eileen Clarkson of Oxfam Scotland travelled to Kenya as part of the Control Arms campaign with David and Ozlem Grimason, whose son was killed by a gunman in Turkey. On the day a new report reveals the cost of conflict on African development, she tells the BBC Scotland news website why there should be an Arms Trade Treaty. When I was pregnant with my first child, the midwife told my group of first-time mothers that such... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
153 Nations Call for a Worldwide Crackdown on the Illegal Trade in Guns
InterPress Service News Agency
10 October 2007
UNITED NATIONS, New York -- The demand comes as diplomatic talks start this week over the future of a proposed treaty that would require global rules and regulations to check the flow of illegal weapons. The proposal to create such a treaty was adopted by the General Assembly last year after more than 150 countries voted in its favour, 24 abstained and one opposed. Many among those that refused to endorse the resolution are large-scale... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations
Costly Gun Wars, Firearm Violence Swallow Up £140billion in Africa
Metro (UK)
10 October 2007
The real cost of war War in Africa has cost the continent at least £140billion in 15 years -- as much as the amount given in international aid, a report claims. Conflict has sucked £8.8billion from economies each year, money that could be spent on saving lives, Oxfam said. Some 38 per cent of the world's armed conflicts are being fought in Africa. The average state has lost 15 per cent of GDP each year as a result of... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations, World
Nations, NGOs Promote 153-Country Push for UN Global Gun Trade Treaty
Reuters
10 October 2007
UNITED NATIONS -- Former U.N. military commanders, pressure groups and diplomats urged the United Nations on Tuesday to pass more stringent controls on the global arms trade. At a news conference organized by aid group Oxfam International, they called for a framework to prevent arms transfers in cases where they are likely to be used in violation of international law, to fuel conflict or undermine development. There is... ( gunpolicy.org )
Africa, United Nations
Wars Cost Africa US$18 Billion Annually: Global Gun Trade Treaty Needed
Africa Focus / allAfrica.com (Washington)
10 October 2007
WASHINGTON, DC -- A new study shows that conflicts in Africa cost the continent over 300 billion U.S. dollars between 1990 and 2005 -- an amount equivalent to all the international aid received by sub-Saharan Africa in the same period. The results of the study were released Thursday in a report by Oxfam International, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and Saferworld. The report is the first to show, on a large... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, World
US Only UN Member State to Vote Against Arms Trade Treaty Talks
Newsweek (USA) / International Edition, 15 Oct
7 October 2007
About half a million people worldwide are killed every year by small arms. That's far more victims than are slain by missiles or WMD, yet they get all the attention of international arms-control agreements. Now nearly 100 countries are trying to change that, by pushing for the creation of a new treaty that would finally regulate the highly lethal international trade in smaller arms. The initiative, which is being pushed by Britain,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, United States, World
100 Governments Push for UN Global Gun Trade Treaty: Only America Stalls
Associated Press
1 October 2007
UNITED NATIONS -- Britain, Japan, Australia and others are pushing for an unprecedented treaty regulating the arms trade worldwide, in a campaign sure to last years and to pit them against a determined American foe, the National Rifle Association. In what U.N. officials say is an "overwhelming" response, almost 100 governments have submitted ideas for such a treaty, to be reviewed over the next year. There's an "extremely urgent"... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, World
US Partners With UN, Destroys 2.5 Million Guns, Small Arms World-wide
USINFO (US State Department), Web Page
1 October 2007
WASHINGTON -- Left unattended, even small stockpiles of surplus and obsolete AK-47 assault rifles, grenade launchers and shoulder-fired missiles could be stolen and used to fuel regional conflicts. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have been launching shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles against Western aircraft. In 2003, a German DHL cargo plane taking off from Baghdad International Airport for Bahrain was struck by a shoulder-fired... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, World
US Reaffirms Global Domination in Arms, Gun Sales - Congressional Report
Agence France Presse
1 October 2007
WASHINGTON -- The United States reaffirmed last year its leadership in world arms trade, cornering nearly 42 percent of the market as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted a weapons shopping spree among neighboring nations, according to a congressional report set to be released Monday. But the overall volume of weapons trade shrunk almost 13 percent, dealing a blow to France and other Western European suppliers, which are facing... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, World
US, Russia Still Dominate Gun Sales, Arms Trade With Developing Nations
International Herald Tribune / AP
1 October 2007
WASHINGTON -- The United States and Russia dominate the trade in arms sales to developing countries, controlling over half of the global market between them, according to a report by U.S. congressional researchers. The report found that orders for arms by developing countries fell betweem 2005 and 2006 by 13 percent to $40.3 billion (28.3 billion), according to an annual report by the Congressional Research Service, a part of... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
US Candidate for President Warns NRA of United Nations Plot Against Guns
Morning News (Arkansas)
21 September 2007
WASHINGTON -- Mike Huckabee warned Friday against federal judges who seek to use international law to shape gun-control rulings. Huckabee told a friendly crowd at a National Rifle Association meeting that the nation should not tolerate judges who try to strip away the Second Amendment right to bear arms by using international law as precedent. He also was sharply critical of the United Nations, an organization that the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Burundi, Congo (DRC), United Nations, World
Burundi Massacre Reminds World of the Need for a Global Gun Trade Treaty
Nation (Nairobi), Opinion
17 August 2007
The events that happened exactly three years ago on that date will always haunt me. I was accustomed to starting the day with the morning radio bulletin -- which rarely bore good tidings in Burundi where I was working at the time -- but nothing prepared me for the bloody events that had occurred during the night. One hundred and fifty six refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, mostly women and children, including a three-month-old... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, United Nations
British NGOs, MPs Campaign to Close Gun Trade Export 'Loopholes'
Press Association (UK)
7 August 2007
The Government must close loopholes in arms export regulations to prevent weapons falling into the wrong hands, an influential group of MPs said. The MPs called for closer monitoring of UK arms fairs after it emerged stun guns which could be used for torture were being openly sold. They also said there should be "more vigorous prosecution" of arms dealers caught flouting the rules and tougher licensing measures for the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Congo (DRC), United States, United Nations, Africa
US Funds Destruction of a Million Guns, Weapons on 4 Continents [Francais]
Le Potentiel (Kinshasa)
9 July 2007
[Translated summary: The US State Department celebrates UN-led, American-funded small arms destruction programmes which have destroyed almost a million weapons around the world]. KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo -- Pour commémorer les programmes d'aide américains qui ont permis la destruction cumulative de près d'un million d'armes à travers le monde, les Etats-Unis et six autres pays observeront la journée internationale... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, World
US Celebrates UN Small Arms Destruction Day, Million Weapons Trashed
US Department of State, Media release
5 July 2007
U.S. assistance programs have destroyed more than one million weapons worldwide. To celebrate the event, the United States and six other countries will observe Small Arms Destruction Day on July 9 by helping countries on four continents destroy a symbolic "millionth weapon." These events demonstrate the United States' ongoing commitment to assisting countries recovering from conflict and to taking practical steps to implement the "UN Program... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, United Nations, World
A Death by Gunshot Every Minute: UK Govt Pushes Global Gun Trade Treaty
Guardian (UK), Opinion
19 June 2007
Small arms kill one person every minute. I believe this is neither inevitable nor acceptable. So today I am calling on the world to take action to stop weapons getting into the wrong hands and to prevent thousands of brutal, unnecessary and unjust deaths. There is an opportunity -- for the first time -- for a global deal to control the movement of small arms, such as AK47s and anti-aircraft rocket launchers, as well as heavier weapons... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, United Nations, World
Britain Urges World to Make UN Global Gun Trade Treaty a Top Priority
Khaleej Times (Dubai) / Agence France Presse
19 June 2007
LONDON -- Britain's International Development Secretary Hilary Benn on Tuesday called on world leaders to make a priorty the concluding of a treaty regulating the trade of weapons. Writing a comment piece in The Guardian daily, Benn said that there "is an opportunity -- for the first time -- for a global deal to control the movement of small arms, such as AK-47s and anti-aircraft rocket launchers, as well as heavier weapons like... ( gunpolicy.org )
West Africa, United Nations, World
West African ECOWAS Nations to Fight for Global Gun Trade Treaty at UN
This Day (Lagos)
19 June 2007
LAGOS, Nigeria -- President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has called on West African states to support the global move towards an Arms Trade Treaty. He made the call at the ECOWAS recent Heads of State Summit in Abuja, Nigeria. The call was also made during the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence (11-17 June) when governments, UN agencies and civil society groups highlighted the problems of gun violence... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
UN Group on Illicit Global Gun Trade Recommends National Firearm Laws
Associated Press of Pakistan
13 June 2007
UNITED NATIONS -- A UN group of experts dealing with illicit arms brokering has produced a series of recommendations for combating the trade through legislation. The panel -- officially called the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts to consider further steps to enhance international cooperation in preventing, combating and eradicating illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons -- is composed of experts from 25 countries,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Brazil, South America, Central America, United Nations
Global Gun Control Week Builds Pressure on Gun Violence in Latin America
O Globo (Brazil), Opinion
11 June 2007
It is Global Action Week against Armed Violence and we need to follow up on two important processes: internationally, the Geneva Declaration, and in Brazil, the new National Plan of Public Security and Citizenship. The Geneva Declaration on armed violence and development is an initiative of the Swiss government aimed at reaching a resolution on this issue at the UN General Assembly by the end of 2008 and defining goals for security... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Liberia, United Nations, World
Liberian President Urges Americans to Support UN Global Gun Trade Treaty
Boston Globe, Opinion
2 May 2007
My country, Liberia, has a coat of arms that shows the sun rising behind a 19th-century sailing ship bringing Africans back from slavery in America to start a new life in Africa. That voyage was the result of a movement by many countries that agreed slavery was a terrible wrong done to the people of Africa. They worked together to stop slavery and in 1847 Liberia became the first independent Republic in Africa. Today, 160 years... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
Former Bush UN Ambassador Warns of Foreign Threats to US Gun Owners
St Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
15 April 2007
Gun-control advocates want to use international treaties to restrict rights in U.S., former Ambassador John Bolton tells the NRA members here. Gun owners should watch out for threats to their rights from overseas as well as at home, John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told 3,500 members of the National Rifle Association Saturday night at the Edward Jones Dome. Proponents of gun control have turned... ( gunpolicy.org )
Pakistan, United Nations
Pakistan Vows to Help Curb Global Gun Trade
The News (Islamabad)
7 February 2007
MANILA -- Senator Nisar Memon reiterated Pakistan's commitment to 2001 United Nations programme of action to curb illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Speaking at a workshop on "Small arms and light weapons (SALW) and proposed arms treaty" organised here by the Parliamentarians for the Globe Action, he pointed out that like many other countries located close to the areas of conflict situations, Pakistan is also faced with... ( gunpolicy.org )
Rwanda, United Nations
Rwanda Reiterates Commitment to UN Global Gun Trade Treaty
New Times (Kigali)
20 January 2007
KIGALI -- The Secretary General in the Ministry of Internal Security James Mutaboba has reiterated Rwanda's commitment to the UN Programme of Action on small arms and light weapons. Mutaboba, who was officiating at a two-day consultative National Workshop on the Development of the National Action Plan (NAP) on Arms Control and Management in Rwanda yesterday at La Pallisse Club Nyandungu, also observed that the formation of the Rwanda National... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
New UN Secretary-General Moves to Dismantle Global Gun Trade Monitor
Inter Press Service
17 January 2007
UNITED NATIONS -- A proposal by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to downgrade the U.N.'s Department of Disarmament Affairs (DDA) -- and possibly bring it under the umbrella of the Department of Political Affairs -- has sparked a critical reaction from member states, peace activists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). "This is the wrong move for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make and would be an inauspicious start to his term,"... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
US Gun Lobby's Anti-Democrat Campaign of 'Paranoid Scare Tactics'
Scotsman (Edinburgh)
5 January 2007
With its chilling warnings about a "marching axis of adversaries" and sinister pictures of innocent citizens being terrorised by evil, it could easily be mistaken for a government battle plan against a global jihad. But Freedom in Peril, a 27-page booklet, is actually the work of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest pro-gun lobby in the United States, and the "danger" of which it warns is the revitalised Democratic... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
NRA Promotes 'Fits of Paranoid Rage' as Gun Doom Envelops Washington
Washington Post
2 January 2007
In lobbying, a threat is good for business, whether it's genuine or not. This might help to explain the dire warnings being issued by the National Rifle Association as the Democrats prepare to take control of Congress this week. "The new leadership could be one of the most unfriendly to the National Rifle Association," declared Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the NRA. "If there's an effort to pursue gun control, we will... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
NRA Fundraiser Pushes Paranoid Gun Fantasies, Racial Fears [Part 1 of 2]
National Rifle Association of America, Pamphlet
29 December 2006
Second Amendment freedom today stands naked in the path of a marching axis of adversaries far darker and more dangerous than gun owners have ever known. Acting alone and in shadowy coalitions, these enemies of freedom are preparing for a profound and foreboding confrontation in which they will not make the mistakes of their predecessors. We'd better be ready. The Coming Confrontation Materials elsewhere document... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
US Gun Lobby's Graphic Attack on UN, US Lawmakers Leaked on Web
ABC News (USA)
29 December 2006
In a pre-emptive strike against anti-gun leaders in the new Congress, the National Rifle Association is planning to distribute a graphic brochure that drafts its Second Amendment mission in alarmist terms. "Freedom in Peril," a rough copy of which was leaked onto the Internet last Friday, takes aim at the enemies of gun rights: from New Orleans policemen who confiscated weapons during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to "one-world... ( gunpolicy.org )
Colombia, United Nations
Turn Guns Into Guitars, UN Tells Colombia in Campaign Against Violence
UN News Centre
22 December 2006
NEW YORK -- In biblical days the injunction was to beat swords into ploughshares. Now the United Nations crime-fighting agency is calling on Colombia, with one of the highest homicide rates in the world, to do more to crack down on organized crime and arms trafficking, citing one initiative that turns guns into guitars. The perception that the country is plagued by a culture of indiscriminate violence is incorrect as the use of... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World, United States
UN Approves Global Gun Trade Treaty Talks, Only US Votes Against
Associated Press
7 December 2006
UNITED NATIONS -- Over U.S. objections, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution Wednesday that could lead to the first international treaty on controlling the trade in assault rifles, machine guns and other small arms. The nonbinding resolution asks the secretary-general to seek the views of the 192-member General Assembly on the feasibility of a comprehensive treaty "establishing common international standards for the import,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World, United States
UN General Assembly Approves Next Moves on Global Gun Trade Treaty
Reuters
6 December 2006
UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to let work begin on a new treaty to bolster arms embargoes and prevent human rights abuses by setting uniform worldwide standards for arms deals. The vote in the 192-nation assembly was 153-1, with the United States casting the sole "no" vote. Twenty-four other nations abstained, including major arms sellers China and Russia and emerging exporters... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World, United States
UN Votes 153-1 for Global Gun Trade Treaty Talks: US Sole Vote Against
United Nations (New York)
6 December 2006
The United Nations General Assembly today adopted a resolution effectively kicking off a diplomatic process aimed at promulgating a new international treaty on the global trade in conventional arms -- a move immediately hailed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- as it acted on a series of resolutions adopted at the recommendation of its Disarmament and International Security (First) Committee. "The Secretary-General welcomes today's... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, United Nations
Guns are the World's Most Serious Weapon-Related Security Threat
Arms Control Today, Opinion
1 December 2006
What is the most serious weapons-related security threat? The answer depends on who you are and where you live. For many Westerners, the biggest worry may be catastrophic nuclear terrorism. But for millions of people in conflict-ridden developing regions, the greatest threat emanates from the free flow of and trade in conventional weapons. With global arms sales soaring to more than $44 billion in 2005 and hundreds of thousands of people... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, Africa
UN to Help Africa Combat 'Plague' of the Proliferation of Guns
Xinhua
10 November 2006
Nobuaki Tanaka, UN under-secretary- general for Disarmament Affairs, on Thursday promised the UN's commitment to assist African states to deal with the problem of small arms proliferation, the Ghana News Agency reported. He noted that added to the possible challenge of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that could face Africa, the continent was plagued with the proliferation of small arms. "The UN will... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, United Nations
Licensed to Kill: The Global Gun Trade and the UN Arms Trade Treaty
Radio Netherlands, Transcript
5 November 2006
The international arms trade is big business. Each year, arms manufacturers produce enough bullets to kill every human on the planet twice. Those who profit most from the industry are also some of the world's most powerful -- countries such as the United States, Great Britain, France, China and Russia. Together, they produce almost 90 percent of arms exports. Yet a lack of proper regulations means millions of weapons are... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
Kenya Joins United Nations Drive Against Global Gun Trade
East African (Nairobi)
30 October 2006
The "havoc" caused in East Africa by unchecked trafficking in small arms is prompting Nairobi to help lead a United Nations effort to regulate the global trade in these weapons, says Kenya's UN ambassador. Kenya is the only African state among seven prime sponsors of a proposal to allow the UN to begin work on a binding global treaty on small arms. The UN General Assembly approved the initiative last week, with 139 nations voting... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Many Years Before UN Global Gun Trade Treaty Could Show Any Results
Arab News (Jeddah), Editorial
28 October 2006
Only a cynic would claim the UN's planned treaty to regulate and limit the international arms trade is an absurdity. The world may be awash with small arms at present but guns rust, deteriorate or break. It will be many years before real control can be brought to this deadly trade. Nevertheless a line had to be drawn in the sand at some point. Hopefully a year from now, a powerful arms trade agreement will come into force and then allow... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
UN Vote Paves Way for Global Gun Trade Treaty: 164 Voted 'Yes,' USA 'No'
Guardian (UK)
28 October 2006
An overwhelming UN vote paving the way to an arms trade treaty controlling the growing international trade in conventional weapons was welcomed enthusiastically yesterday by Britain, human rights groups and aid organisations. The UN general assembly's first committee, responsible for disarmament and international security, voted by 139 votes to one on Thursday in favour of the move. The British government has been at the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
UN Approves Global Gun Trade Treaty: US the Only Country to Vote 'No'
Associated Press
27 October 2006
UNITED NATIONS -- A key United Nations committee on Thursday approved a resolution that could lead to an international treaty on small-arms control, a move hailed by gun-control advocates but opposed by the U.S. and gun-rights groups. The measure would begin studies of a possible treaty, and must be approved by the General Assembly, which is likely to take it up next month. Human-rights campaigners said such a treaty would go a... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
UN Panel Backs New Treaty on Global Gun Trade, Voting 139 to 1
Reuters
26 October 2006
UNITED NATIONS -- A U.N. General Assembly committee voted on Thursday to let work begin on a new treaty intended to strengthen arms embargoes and prevent human rights abuses by setting uniform global standards for arms deals. The assembly's Disarmament and International Security Committee voted 139 to 1, with the United States casting the sole "no" vote, to approve the start of work on a new arms trade. Another 26 nations... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World, United States
UN, World Kicks Off Global Gun Trade Treaty: Sole 'No' Vote Cast By USA
InterPress Service News Agency
26 October 2006
UNITED NATIONS -- United Nations member states voted Thursday to create an international treaty to curb the illicit trade in guns and other light weapons, despite strong opposition from the United States and other big powers. On Thursday, a vast majority of delegates to the U.N. General Assembly's first committee endorsed the resolution calling for the establishment of a treaty to stop weapons transfers that fuel conflict, poverty... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Fifteen Nobel Peace Laureates Call for UN Global Gun Trade Treaty
Independent (South Africa) / AFP
24 October 2006
Fifteen Nobel Peace Prize laureates on Tuesday urged United Nations member states to back a draft resolution aimed at controlling international arms sales. The draft, co-sponsored by Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan and Kenya, comes to a vote on Wednesday in the UN General Assembly's First Committee, which deals with disarmament. The Nobel laureates, including the Dalai Lama, South African Archbishop... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
United Nations Vote Nears on Global Gun Trade Treaty Resolution
Voice of America
24 October 2006
WASHINGTON -- On Thursday a UN panel is expected to vote on whether to begin work on a global arms trade treaty. The treaty would control the sale and trade of small arms and some conventional weapons. This week, 15 Nobel Laureates -- including Archbishop Desmond Tutu -- announced their support for a treaty. Helen Hughes is the arms policy advisor for Amnesty International and has been lobbying in favor of the treaty resolution.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, United States, United Nations
Britain to Defy US Over UN Resolution on Global Gun Trade
Guardian (UK)
21 October 2006
The UK is next week expected to push through the United Nations a resolution to open the way for a landmark arms trade treaty, in spite of opposition from the US, Russia and China. Campaigners have been pressing for years for such a treaty. An attempt at the UN three years ago had to be abandoned because of the level of hostility and failure to win sufficient backing. But a British government source said, as of yesterday,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Pacific, United Nations
Guns and the Pacific: Wasteful Hiccup, Distractions at the United Nations
Austral Policy Forum, Nautilus Institute, Opinion
19 October 2006
At the recent United Nations small arms Review Conference in New York, [1] a global process to link the proliferation of small arms with international development, public health and human rights slid into an inconclusive and wasteful hiatus. In addition, a spin-off Arms Trade Treaty could distract from more direct and localised efforts to curb gun violence. Given current events in East Timor, South East Asia and the Pacific, these... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Big Powers Split on Proposed United Nations Global Gun Trade Treaty
Asian Tribune / IPS
18 October 2006
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations is responding positively to a call from peace activists and human rights organisations for a new international treaty to monitor the world's growing 1.1-trillion-dollar global arms trade. A resolution calling for the creation of a group of governmental experts to explore the feasibility of starting work on such a treaty has been gathering strong support. As of last week, "more than 80... ( gunpolicy.org )
Congo (DRC), United Nations
Congo Rebels Use Guns, Bullets from South Africa, US, China, Russia
Sunday Times (South Africa) / AFP
16 October 2006
LONDON -- Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are fighting with bullets and small arms from South Africa, the USA, Greece, China, Russia and Serbia despite a UN and other embargos, a report said on Monday. The Control Arms Campaign report did not suggest that firms in these countries were violating a UN arms embargo imposed in 2003, but suggested the equipment was being diverted to the DRC from third countries. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, United Nations
Global Gun Trade Treaty Needed to Reduce Conflict, Says Control Arms
Reuters AlertNet
16 October 2006
DAKAR -- Only a tough international arms trade treaty can stem the flood of weapons into conflict zones like Congo, where rebels blamed for rights abuses use weapons and munitions from across the globe, campaigners said on Monday. Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) said in a statement that United Nations' arms embargoes against countries in conflict were not enough,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Preliminary Debate Begins on UN Global Gun Trade Treaty Resolution
Voice of America
12 October 2006
WASHINGTON -- At the United Nations, preliminary debate begins Thursday on a resolution to initiate work on a global arms trade treaty. Nearly 80 governments have co-sponsored the resolution, including South Africa, Liberia and Rwanda. Anna MacDonald is a policy adviser for OXFAM International. From New York, she spoke to VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about the resolution. "The resolution is calling... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Arms Before Aid: Globalisation of Gun Trade Avoids Arms Export Controls
Guardian (UK)
10 October 2006
Worldwide spending on weapons is expected to reach record levels this year at a time when the arms industry is increasingly able to avoid export controls, human rights and aid agencies say in a report published on Monday. By the end of the year, military spending is estimated to reach $1,058-billion, about 15 times the amount spent on international aid, say Amnesty, Oxfam and the International Action Network on Small Arms (Iansa).... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Like Land Mines, the Global Gun Trade Must be Curbed by UN Arms Treaty
Toronto Star (Ontario), Opinion
8 October 2006
Remember the excitement nearly 10 years ago when the treaty to ban land mines was signed in Ottawa? What began as a small, grassroots campaign had achieved a legally binding international agreement to banish the scourge of anti-personnel mines from the planet. October offers a similar opportunity to tackle the horrific excesses of the arms trade. Later this month, the UN will vote on a resolution to start work on an Arms Trade Treaty, exactly... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Religious Leaders Urge Global Gun Trade Curbs, UN Arms Trade Treaty
Edmonton Journal (Alberta) / AFP
7 October 2006
LONDON -- A group of religious leaders including Nobel winner Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama called Tuesday for urgent agreement on a global arms trade treaty, saying it could save hundreds of thousands of lives. The call came a day after a report warned that arms traders are profiting from a lack of international rules to supply weapons to unscrupulous groups and bypass arms embargoes on countries. "The world is awash... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Global Gun Trade Under Fire in Run-up to UN Arms Trade Treaty Vote
Washington Times / UPI
6 October 2006
Global rights and aid groups, ahead of U.N. debate on the subject, seek a clampdown on globalization of arms industries they say contribute to rights abuses. The "Arms Without Borders" report was issued by the umbrella Control Arms Campaign, whose members include Oxfam International, Amnesty International and International Action Network on Small Arms. Its release coincided with the beginning of U.N. debate on an arms trade treaty.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Weapons of Mass Destruction: Guns, Small Arms in the Wrong Hands
Scoop Independent News (New Zealand), Opinion
6 October 2006
In the time it will take you to read this article, five people will have been shot dead. It seems if nothing else, humans have perfected the efficiency of killing; one can now eradicate life with a slight movement of the finger. As Ronald Reagan's would be assassin, John W. Hinckley, Jr. once said, "Guns are neat little things, aren't they? They can kill extraordinary people with very little effort." However, the reality is they kill many... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Top 5 UN States Run the Global Gun Trade Which Threatens the World
al Jazeera
2 October 2006
Latest studies showed that the international arms trade has increased in shocking percentages since the end of World War II and the beginning of the American President's so-called "War on Terror". What is truly disturbing is that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, supposedly responsible for maintaining global peace, account for 85% of weapons exports. A recent report titled "The Arms without Border"... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
World Has Unique Chance to Curb Global Gun Trade, Says Report
Reuters
2 October 2006
LONDON -- The world has a unique chance starting on Monday to begin to curb the trade in guns and military hardware that kills at least 300,000 people each year and ruins the lives of millions more, campaigners said. Exploiting legal loopholes and unscrupulous dealers, deadly weapons are finding their way from legal manufacturers to countries like Sudan, Indonesia and Uganda which are subject to international arms embargoes, Control... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World
Control Arms Pushes UN Bid to Block Bloody Global Gun Trade
News24 (Cape Town) / Reuters
1 October 2006
LONDON -- The world has a unique chance starting on Monday to begin to curb the trade in guns and military hardware that kills at least 300 000 people each year and ruins the lives of millions more, said campaigners. Exploiting legal loopholes and unscrupulous dealers, deadly weapons are finding their way from legal manufacturers to countries like Sudan, Indonesia and Uganda, which are subject to international arms embargoes, said... ( gunpolicy.org )
Nigeria, United Nations
Nigerian President Protests Global Gun Trade at United Nations Meeting
Tide (Abuja)
29 September 2006
When the world came together last week, the major issue of concern was the protraction of small arms proliferation around the world, and how this has aggravated conflicts in places such as Darfur and the Niger Delta regions. President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria particularly called on the United Nations to take more drastic action against this evil menace. This scenario also played itself out when European Union diplomats met in... ( gunpolicy.org )
Nigeria, United Nations
Nigeria's President Laments Lack of UN Action on Global Gun Trade
This Day (Lagos)
26 September 2006
ABUJA -- President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for greater global action to curb the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in West Africa and other parts of the world, just as he observed that the illicit supply of small arms and light weapons to "non-state actors" was a major causative factor for political instability and insecurity in West Africa. In an address delivered on his behalf to the 61st Session of the United... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, United Nations
Unregulated Gun Trade is the Deadly Hole in Global Security: Oscar Arias
Boston Globe, Opinion
21 September 2006
International security will be at the top of the agenda at the UN General Assembly meeting this week in New York. For many leaders, enhancing security involves spending more money on weapons for themselves and their allies. The five years since 9/11 have seen a boom in the conventional weapons trade, accompanied by a new willingness to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses committed in the pursuit of the war on terrorism. Yet the focus... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, United Nations
Britain Reports 'Overwhelming' Support for UN Curbs on Global Gun Trade
Times (UK)
14 September 2006
The Government says that it has been staggered by the number of countries wanting to back its plans for a legally-binding, international arms trade treaty. Kim Howells, the Foreign Office Minister, said he was "overwhelmed" by the breadth of support for the initiative, and urged governments around the world to get on board. "There were ambassadors literally queuing up to express their support for the proposals that we announced... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, United Nations
Curb the Global Gun Trade, Support UN Arms Treaty, Says Bianca Jagger
Guardian (UK), Opinion
14 September 2006
As the UN general assembly opens this week, it has its best opportunity in years to make a life-saving difference to people all over the world. An opportunity to stop human rights abuses, limit the threat of terrorism, and reduce suffering for millions. The opportunity is a draft resolution for an international arms trade treaty that would place tough controls on sales. The treaty would make it illegal to sell weapons to human rights... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
For Peace to Thrive, End Arms Trade, Global Gun Running: Desmond Tutu
Chicago Tribune, Opinion
14 September 2006
For many years, I've been involved in the peace business, doing what I can to help people overcome their differences. In doing so, I've also learned a lot about the business of war: the arms trade. It is an industry out of control. Every day, more than 1,000 innocent people, including children, are killed by conventional weapons, according to the UN. There have been international treaties to control the spread of nuclear, chemical... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, United Nations
Global Gun Trade Enables Millions of Killings: Arms Trade Treaty Needed
Guardian (UK) / Comment is Free, Blog
14 September 2006
"It's the white people supplying the weapons in Africa -- now you're going to feel what it's like," my sister Charlotte was told, shortly before being gunned down by members of the Forces pour la Liberation Nationale (FNL) armed group in war-torn Burundi. The UK post-mortem found that she had been shot seven times in the back with an eastern European semi-automatic rifle. Her killers may have been illiterate members of a ragtag peasant army,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, United Kingdom
UN Members 'Queue Up' to Support UK Push for Global Gun Trade Treaty
International Herald Tribune / AP
14 September 2006
LONDON -- Britain renewed its push for an arms trade treaty Thursday, saying the huge volume of international weapons trafficking was prolonging conflicts in poor nations and leading to unnecessary civilian deaths. Prime Minister Tony Blair's government plans to press at the United Nations next month for a treaty regulating weapons sales. Representatives of about 120 countries attended a meeting British officials called to seek... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, United Nations
Bring the Global Gun Trade Under Control, Say Control Arms
Guardian (UK) / Comment Is Free, Blog
13 September 2006
News headlines continue to be dominated by depressing, yet worryingly familiar, stories and pictures of war, conflict and displacement. Closer to home, shootings are reported by the media, analysed briefly and then just as quickly consigned to the archive file -- and many more are never reported at all. In countries including Brazil, the Congo, Kenya and India I have met men, women and children whose lives have been torn apart by... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, United Nations
UK Campaigners Target Embassies in Bid for Global Gun Trade Treaty
Press Association (UK)
13 September 2006
Campaigners will target the embassies of five governments with a demand that they support an international arms trade treaty. Activists from South Africa, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil will join Amnesty International and Oxfam to call on their governments to support a treaty making it illegal to sell weapons if they will be used to abuse human rights. The campaign for tough new controls on the international arms trade... ( gunpolicy.org )
Thailand, United Nations
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights 'Goes Far Overboard' on Guns
Bangkok Post, Editorial
8 September 2006
The new and supposedly improved version of the United Nations' focus on international human rights has hit the headlines again, in a startling manner. Reports bubbling up through the bureaucracy of the Human Rights Council, as it now is called, are addressing the supposed problem of so-called small arms -- the term that bureaucrats use for rifles and handguns. An astounding report by the world body's Special Rapporteur on the subject has... ( gunpolicy.org )
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