"UN Arms Plan Misses Mark, Anti-Gun Network Says"

[cuchulainn]

from Reuters
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...-13T021055Z_01_HO307805_RTRUKOC_0_ARMS-UN.xml

UN arms plan misses mark, anti-gun network says

Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:11 AM BST
By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A 4-year-old crackdown on the illegal global trade in small arms has had little impact on the uncontrolled availability of pistols, rifles and machine guns in many parts of the world, a coalition of arms control groups reported on Tuesday.

While world governments have now had the time to meet the legal, procedural and program obligations set out in a 2001 U.N. action plan on small arms, "we are very disappointed by how little has been achieved," said Paul Eavis of London-based Safer World.

"In 2005 we are still saying very much that the glass is still 95 percent empty for most countries of the world," said Eavis, speaking on behalf of the International Action Network on Small Arms, a network of more than 600 organizations.

While there has been significant progress in some regions since 2001, "hundreds of thousands more people have been killed by gunshot wounds and the scale of interventions to try to tackle the problem are nowhere near sufficient," he said.

The network's latest 320-page progress report on more than 180 countries was issued on the second day of a weeklong U.N. conference convened to assess the action plan's effectiveness.

Governments attending the conference say it will take them a few more years to decide whether the plan needs rewriting or just better implementation.

At the United Nations, the term "small arms" applies to a range of weapons from pistols and rifles to military-style machine guns, small mortars and portable anti-tank systems.

Network representatives told a news conference at U.N. headquarters that the Americas and Europe were making the most progress in carrying out the 2001 plan.

There was also good progress in the Horn of Africa and central Africa's Great Lakes region, where states had joined together to attack the problem on a regional basis.

But there was "very little progress" in South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, Eavis said.

Only about half the world's governments have set out clear standards and procedures for the management of small arms stockpiles by now. Fifty countries require that small arms be marked as they are manufactured so they can later be traced in the event they slip into the illegal arms market.

Since 2001, 36 states have destroyed at least some of their surplus small arms, and 65 have conducted some sort of disarmament program, whether in the form of voluntary weapons collection, forcible disarmament or amnesty, the report said.

 

[cuchulainn]

from Noticias
http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=83132&src=0

Key report on illicit weapons gives guidelines on tracing and information exchange

/noticias.info/ 12 July 2005 – The draft text of an international instrument to help United Nations Member States identify, trace and eliminate illicit trading in small arms and light weapons has been prepared for formal submission to the next General Assembly, starting in September.

States would choose their own methods, but, according to the draft, would mark weapons during manufacture and at importation "on an exposed surface, conspicuous without technical aids or tools, easily recognizable, readable, durable and, as far as technically possible, recoverable."

Governments would also maintain accurate and comprehensive records of all marked small arms and light weapons in their territory, keeping manufacturing records for at least 30 years and import-export records for at least 20 years.

"States will ensure that they are capable of undertaking traces and responding to tracing requests in accordance with the requirements of this instrument" and, on receiving information in this context, will respect all restrictions placed on its use, it said.

Where appropriate, States will cooperate with the UN and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to implement the instrument, the draft said.

The draft was written in 58 meetings by a 15-member panel called the Open-ended Working Group to Negotiate an International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Small arms include revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns, the draft said, while light weapons are designed for use by a two- or three-person crew, although some may be carried and used by a single person.

Light weapons include heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, portable anti-aircraft guns, portable anti-tank guns, portable launchers of various types and mortars of a calibre of less than 100 millimetres, it said.

 

[cuchulainn]

From Finland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
http://www.finland.or.jp/netcomm/ne...,38899,38836,38799,32115,&intThreadPosition=5

Pasi Patokallio chairs UN Small Arms Conference

Press release 219/2005
12 July, 2005

Approximately 100 000 people die annually in conflicts on different parts of the world, most of them killed with small arms. Using or threatening with small arms also prevents the delivery of humanitarian aid in many places and forms a serious obstacle to development cooperation. "Thus small arms can be considered mass destruction weapons", said Ambassador Pasi Patokallio, Finland's representative, who was nominated the chairman of the UN conference on small arms on Monday, 11 July, in New York. The conference continues until 15 July.

The mission of the conference is to evaluate the implementation of the international Programme of Action on the spread and illicit trade of small arms, which the UN adopted in 2001. Most typically small arms are those intended for military use, such as assault rifles and mortars.

According to Patokallio there has been progress in the implementation of the UN programme. A special protocol has been approved as a part of the multilateral agreement on organised international crime. It came into affect at the beginning of July and is aimed at preventing the illicit trade of firearms. A document on better marking and tracing of small arms was negotiated a fortnight ago within the UN. It will be discussed in the general assembly in autumn.

According to Patokallio tighter international intervention in the operations of the suppliers of weapons and an international agreement on the norms of legal trade on small arms will be among the current affairs in the future.

Further information: First Secretary Janne Taalas, Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, New York, tel. +1 212 355 2100

 

[nico]

Since 2001, 36 states have destroyed at least some of their surplus small arms, and 65 have conducted some sort of disarmament program, whether in the form of voluntary weapons collection, forcible disarmament or amnesty, the report said.

An interresting contradiction. I wonder if that includes Zimbabwe.

 

[cuchulainn]

From Scoop
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00266.htm

Cuchulainn's note: This moron couldn't even get the facts straight between the headline and the lead.

Handguns Claim The Lives Of 500,000 Per Year
Thursday, 14 July 2005, 12:40 pm

Experts Demand Stricter Controls Of Weapon Shops

By Marietta Gross - Scoop Media Auckland

Every year 500,000 people die from assault rifle, revolver and handgun shootings. Among the victims are thousands of children. The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF http://www.unicef.org and the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC) http://www.bicc.de fear that the worldwide action programme is not being implemented. On Monday a UN-Conference on rifles began in New York.

UNICEF and the BICC are worried that basic conditions won’t be reached, as global weapon suppliers from China, Russia and other nations deny limitations of weapons exports and the United States will not restrict the private possession of firearms. In this context Germany could act as an icon nation in the fight against the worldwide flood of handguns.

The BICC proposals include binding regulations to mark weapons as well as brokerages. Also ammunition should be strictly controlled. Excessive weapons should be collected and demolished.

It is proposed that the German government should hinder the passing on of weapons originating in Germany and also the delivery of weapons which were produced somewhere else under German Licence, if these transfers aren’t in accordance with the German rules for ammunition export.

Dietrich Garlichs, Executive of UNICEF-Germany, says: “Handguns are the weapons of mass destruction of our period. Rifles such as the German G 3 or the Russian Kalashnikov kill more people than heavy weapon systems. And they enable the service of child soldiers.”

Worldwide about 600 million rifles exist. “Without a solution to gun control also the Millennium Development Aims won’t be reached”, commented the Director of the BICC, Peter Croll.

At the UN’s first conference on handguns in 2001, the international community decided on a worldwide action programme. But in fact only a few countries took actions.

 

[taliv]

so... if germany bans export of H&Ks, maybe H&K will start making all their guns in the US, so they'll be "domestic" and we won't have to worry about importing kits either.

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

What's that? The people and the governments of the world didn't want to volunteer up the guns they use to defend themselves?

Shocked, I say... I am shocked and appalled!

-Jeffrey

 

[cuchulainn]

from the Montreal Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montreal/mont....html?id=b449ba80-d4d4-4b2b-8efa-fea69ffff5a4

Canadian gun control foes take fight to UN conference

Latest federal regulations will make buying firearms unnecessarily expensive, they argue

STEVEN EDWARDS

CanWest News Service

Monday, July 11, 2005

A United Nations gun control conference opening today will see Canadian gun owners seek international backing against new federal regulations, which they say will make hunting unnecessarily costly.

The latest measures require most imported guns, from next April, to be marked on a part of the firearm the owners say will add up to $200 to the sales price.

The owners believe support from other countries will make it easier to pressure Ottawa to cancel or revise the regulations, which specify the gun's receiver must identify Canada as the country of importation, and also show the year of arrival.

They say that even the UN, in rules finalized last month, leaves it up to individual countries where to place country and year markings on the firearm, if they're placed at all.

"We believe Canadian delegates at this week's conference will try to convince other countries that wording of the new UN agreement calls for the new Canadian marking standard," said Tony Bernado, political communications director of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association.

Tim Martin of the Department of Foreign Affairs will address the conference this morning, but declined advance comment.

Canadian gun owners and traders have for years complained they're being squeezed by an increasing barrage of domestic gun controls, some enacted to cut the number of illicit arms used in African, South American and other overseas conflicts.

The 191 member states of the UN General Assembly will be asked to approve the new international controls at this fall's 60th anniversary summit.

"Canada actively participated in the negotiation of this instrument and believes that it can make a positive contribution to the ability of law enforcement officials to trace illicit small arms," said Marie-Christine Lilkoff, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson.

Bernado says police can already quickly trace the origins of guns that have entered Canada through current data, which include serial numbers, manufacturer stamps and registration certificates.

"The thousands of weapons being used in civil wars in places like Africa have not come from gun owners across Canada," he said. "The new Canadian regulations are harassment of the gun-owning community."

But leading gun control advocates in Canada say international studies show that networks supplying the arms fuelling Third World conflicts also feed international crime groups operating in developed countries.

"This is about eliminating weapons used to fuel civil wars," said Antonio Evora, a UN disarmament expert. "It is not about taking guns away from law-abiding hunters in places like Alberta."

The receiver is the main part of a gun, so marking it is preferable to marking other components. Doing so is cheapest during the gun's manufacture.

But importation marks would normally be applied after manufacture, when components such as barrels can be cheaply stamped because they are almost always made of steel - unlike receivers, which come in different materials, including steel, aluminum, alloys and polymers.

"The only practical method of (marking them) is by computerized laser engraving ..." says a position paper Bernado will distribute at the UN conference. "But these units are ... into the tens of thousands of dollars."

Most new firearms in Canada are imported, so costs will "skyrocket, perhaps as much as $200 per gun," the paper adds. "Sales of new firearms in Canada will drastically drop and our importers, distributors and retailers (who are currently hanging on by their thumbs) will go out of business."

 

[dolanp]

You know you're going too far if the Canadians are complaining about gun restrictions...

 

[Shweboner]

“Handguns are the weapons of mass destruction of our period. Rifles such as the German G 3 or the Russian Kalashnikov kill more people than heavy weapon systems. And they enable the service of child soldiers.”


The clearest indicator that they are only interested in disarming the people, rather than ending conflict should be, why they aren't spending this kind of money and effort in solving the problems that lead to conflict instead of taking the firearms!

Are they just flat out lying? or do they really believe this stuff?

Child soldiers? They aren't child soldiers because there happens to be a rifle laying around... there are child soldiers because sometimes thats who is left to fight... after their unarmed parents have been slaughtered in genocide perhaps? Because the UN did nothing to prevent innocent people from being massacred? Hmm, how many times has the UN stood by to let innocents die at the hands of genocidal maniacs around the world? And now they are soooooo concerned that a child (or an adult) will take up arms in their defense! ( yeah I know that the genocidal maniacs will be using the same weapons too, just making a point)

If they truly gave a damn about peace instead of global disarmament, theyd put effort into stabilizing these 3rd world countries and stabilizing the governments, education and so many other things that need to be done to stop this crap.... not simply taking the guns away....

How many died in Rwanda, in one day, by...... MACHETES!!!!! Not a G3 or an AK or not even a 9mm weapon of mass destruction.... but a .50 piece of metal.

and

 

[El Tejon]

Ever notice how the antis think firearms are made by some wizard in a tower instead of just simple mechnical devices that came be made in the thousands in any 8th grade metal shop class?

Illiterate guys with 3 foot beards make HK-33 copies on a flat rock in Pakistan! :banghead:

If we want to save the Third World, say the Sudan, we should air drop the guns we captured in Iraq to the Sudanese people so they can save themselves by shooting their government.

 

[cuchulainn]

Illiterate guys with 3 foot beards make HK-33 copies on a flat rock in Pakistan

3-foot beards? Ah-Ha! They are wizards! They're just pretending to be illiterate. Do wizard float like witches?

 

[Crosshair]

Why do the insane alway's get to be the ones in charge?

 

[Justin]

Because they don't have any real marketable job skills.

 

[Henry Bowman]

And because they are power hungry controllers, unlike us who just want to be left alone.

 

[21H40]

If all the firearms go away, we'll all be friends?

The biggest anti-world peace through gun control argument I've used starts with "Do you get along with your mother? father? siblings? You realize that you have shared experiences and values with these people, and you still have conflict? How will a starving African child understand your affluent American lifestyle?"
:banghead:
:banghead:

They all want freedom through ignorance. Rather, they don't want to know that their trapped.