Firearm News
UN Urged to Take Decisive Action, Curb Gun Trafficking in Nigeria, Africa
12 August 2010
Vanguard (Lagos)
OWERRI, Nigeria — The President of Youths Enhancement Organization,(YEO), Ambassador Obinna Egbuka, has appealed to the United Nations to take decisive action to end what he termed "the irresponsible trade in conventional weapons across the globe".
Obinna, who spoke in Owerri, ahead of this year's World Youths Day, said the appeal became expedient now as Nigeria grapples with increasing cases of kidnapping and armed robbery.
He argued "that trade in conventional... (GunPolicy.org)
Global Gun Trade Treaty Talks End on Upbeat Note at United Nations
24 July 2010
Agence France Presse
UNITED NATIONS - Preparatory UN talks on a treaty to regulate the world's 55-billion-dollar arms trade ended Friday with reports of progress in defining the goals, scope and principles a future pact.
A future Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was "to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit transfer, production and brokering of conventional arms," said Argentina's UN delegate Martin Garcia Moritan, chair of the two-week session.
The pact would create controls to stop the... (GunPolicy.org)
Arms Trade Treaty Makes 'Significant Progress' as 'All UN Countries Agree'
23 July 2010
Reuters
Supporters of a world arms trade treaty said significant progress had been made as nations concluded the first round of talks on Friday on a pact meant to regulate the $55 billion global weapons market.
All U.N. countries had now accepted the principle of a treaty, delegates said.
Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies as a result of armed violence, and a convention is needed to prevent illicitly traded guns from pouring into conflict zones and... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Gun Trade Treaty 'Threat to US Second and First Amendment Rights'
23 July 2010
Washington Times, Editorial
The United Nations is holding secret closed meetings to work out a global arms trade treaty. The agreement, which could be finished by 2012, is a threat to Americans' Second and First Amendment rights.
"Some type of micro-stamping regulations seems all but inevitable. It is very, very likely," the Heritage Foundation's Theodore R. Bromund, who tracks the U.N., told The Washington Times. "Restrictions on trade between private individuals are somewhat less than 50-50,... (GunPolicy.org)
France,Pakistan,United Nations,United States
Principle of Global Gun Trade Treaty 'Now Agreed by All Countries' at UN
23 July 2010
Washington Post / AP
UNITED NATIONS - The world's nations took the first steps at a conference that ended Friday toward a legally binding treaty that would try to regulate the multibillion dollar arms trade and prevent the transfer of weapons to armed groups fueling conflicts, terrorists and human rights violators.
When the conference began two weeks ago in the 192-member General Assembly, many delegates were uncertain whether there would be wide support for a treaty regulating a trade... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama's Support for Gun Trade Treaty Speeds Progress at United Nations
23 July 2010
Bloomberg (USA)
President Barack Obama's support for a treaty to regulate the $55 billion-a-year trade in conventional weapons has spurred broad agreement on the elements of global regulation, diplomats said today.
"The principle of an arms trade treaty is now agreed by all countries, even if some have reservations," Eric Danon, France's envoy, said after two weeks of preliminary negotiations ended at the United Nations in New York. "Trying to have a comprehensive universal treaty in... (GunPolicy.org)
UN's Global Gun Trade Treaty a Risk to US Second Amendment Rights
20 July 2010
Human Events (Washington)
The Supreme Court reaffirmed the Second Amendment during the trial of McDonald vs. Chicago. The 5-4 ruling confirmed that neither a state nor city, acting under a grant of authority from the state, could deny a person the right to possess a firearm. This was seen as a victory for gun rights activists, but with the United Nations Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) treaty looming in the near future, this fight is far from over.
The U.N. program of action concerning SALW... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Five Parmanent Members Accused of Facilitating Illegal Arms Transfer
19 July 2010
Inter Press Service News Agency
UNITED NATIONS - The five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - are accused of facilitating the transport of conventional weapons and cluster munitions to countries where they could be used to commit human rights violations and war crimes.
The pointed accusations come from the London-based Amnesty International (AI) which singles out recent arms shipments by transport companies and airlines registered in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Arms Trade Loopholes Allow German, Other Transport Firms to Ship Guns
19 July 2010
Deutsche Welle
An Amnesty International report says that transport companies in nations such as Germany are using arms trade agreement loopholes to deliver weapons to human rights violators. Amnesty is calling on the UN to take action.
According to a new report released Monday by Amnesty International, transport companies in certain countries are using loopholes in arms trade agreements to deliver weapons to human rights abusers abroad. German transport companies are among those... (GunPolicy.org)
Amnesty International Urges UN to Control Global Gun Trade Transport
18 July 2010
Financial Times (UK)
The United Nations must take a harder look at controlling the transport of deadly weapons around the world, a leading pressure group reports on Monday, amid fears that the imposition of tough national licensing regimes is an insufficient brake on the process.
As the UN steps up work on the creation of an international arms trade treaty, Amnesty International has highlighted how states with tough arms-export bans still find their rules being circumvented by lax... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Begins Work on Treaty to Regulate the Expanding Global Arms Trade
13 July 2010
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations began negotiations on a legally binding treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade to help prevent the illegal transfer of guns that kill and injure thousands of people every day.
The General Assembly first voted in December 2006 to work toward a treaty regulating the growing, multibillion dollar arms trade. Last December, the 192-member world body decided to hold a four-week U.N. conference in 2012 to draft an arms trade... (GunPolicy.org)
United Nations Begin Talks on Legally Binding, Global Arms Trade Treaty
12 July 2010
Reuters
UNITED NATIONS - The world's nations opened negotiations on Monday on an arms trade treaty meant to regulate the $55 billion global weapons market and prevent guns from pouring into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities.
One person every minute dies as a result of armed violence, and some 128 armed conflicts since the end of the Cold War in 1989 have led to at least 250,000 deaths each year, according to the Control Arms Campaign, an international advocacy... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Arms Trade Treaty Targets Guns, Planes, Tanks, Warships, Ammunition
12 July 2010
Voice of America
Formal negotiations began Monday on a new international treaty to control the trade of conventional weapons. More than 190 nations are taking part at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Supporters of the treaty say it would save thousands of lives every year. The Control Arms Campaign, a coalition of civil society groups, says 128 armed conflicts since 1989 have claimed about 250,000 deaths each year.
The campaign says since 2006, the "vast majority of governments in... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Global Gun Trade Treaty Talks Target 'Extreme Cases' of Arms Dealing
10 July 2010
Inter Press Service News Agency
UNITED NATIONS - Experts from over 100 U.N. member states will convene Monday for two weeks to discuss the elements to be included in a long-awaited Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) - what will be a multilateral, legally-binding document regulating the transfer of conventional weapons and small and light arms.
The upcoming meeting is the first of four Preparatory Committee sessions to take place in 2010 and 2011, leading up to the 2012 Conference during which the ATT is... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Gun Grabber: Global Arms Treaty Threatens US Right to Self Defence
27 May 2010
Washington Times, Editorial
American gun owners might not feel besieged, but they should. This week, the Obama administration announced its support for the United Nations Small Arms Treaty. This international agreement poses real risks for freedom both in the United States and around the world by making it more difficult - if not outright illegal - for law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.
The U.N. claims that guns used in armed conflicts cause 300,000 deaths worldwide every year, an... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Report Documents Hundreds of Illegal Shootings by Colombian Military
27 May 2010
Associated Press
GENEVA - Colombian security forces committed "a significant number" of murders over the past decade, often for personal profit, and few of the perpetrators have been punished, according to a report published Thursday by an independent U.N. human rights expert.
Philip Alston, the U.N.'s investigator on extrajudicial executions, said in his 36-page report that the number of so-called "false positive" killings by military members surged in 2004.
The term refers to... (GunPolicy.org)
Civil Society Groups Urge India to Support Global Gun Trade Treaty
10 May 2010
City News (Pakistan) / NNI
Each year around the world, 500,000 people are killed directly with conventional weapons and many more are injured, abused, forcibly displaced and bereaved as a result of armed violence.
An Indian Civil Society urging for an International Arms Trade Treaty to stop the inflow of illegal small arms and light weapons in India said: "Around 58,000 Indians died due to armed violence in the last 15 years. The highest casualties have been reported from India's Northeast... (GunPolicy.org)
UN Secretary General Exhorts Central Africans to Combat Gun Runners
30 April 2010
UN News Centre (New York)
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today exhorted ministers from Central African nations to work towards adopting a legal instrument to combat illicit arms trafficking, a move that will help reduce violence and bring peace and security to countries in the sub-region.
"The link between arms trafficking and other illicit activities is increasingly undeniable," said Mr. Ban. "Yet Central Africa remains one of the few African sub-regions without a legally binding instrument to... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada,United Nations,United States
US-Canada Gun Smuggling Shows Need for a Global Gun Trade Treaty
29 April 2010
Women Make News, Editorial
One third of all guns in the world are in the U.S. And half the guns used to commit crimes in Canada come from south of the border. So yes, this country needs and wants an International Arms Treaty.
"Here in Canada we live next to a country with as many guns as people and those guns are killing Canadians. This is the main argument for an international agreement," asserted Coalition for Gun Control president Wendy Cukier during an April 22 conference in Toronto.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
New Web Site Tracks Airlines Delivering Both Guns and Development Aid
19 April 2010
Inter Press Service News Agency
UNITED NATIONS - A new information portal launched Monday has been described as the world's first internet clearing house aimed at tracking unethical air cargo carriers transporting humanitarian aid and relief supplies to war zones while simultaneously smuggling arms and narcotics - at times, to the same conflict areas.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which launched the new website, EthicalCargo.org, says over 90 percent of air cargo... (GunPolicy.org)