U.S. Throws Down Gauntlet to UN Small Arms Meeting
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States threw down the gauntlet on Monday at a U.N. small arms conference, saying it rejected any move to restrict the right of citizens to bear arms, even when these were designed for military use.
John Bolton, the U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control, told the first U.N. conference to curb small arms trafficking that he opposed a mandatory review of what individual countries had done, which he said would only serve only to ''institutionalize and bureaucratize this process.''
Nor would the administration of President Bush (news - web sites) support restrictions on arms trade to rebel groups, which could be defending themselves against a genocidal government, Bolton told the opening day of the conference.
A draft action plan that would end the two-week conference calls on countries to regulate arms brokers and ensure that manufacturers mark all small weapons so their movements can be traced.
The United Nations (news - web sites) maintains illegal trade in small arms is a billion-dollar-a-year business and directly or indirectly responsible for more than 1,000 deaths a day.
The document, which had already been watered down in preliminary meetings, is politically rather than legally binding, meaning it cannot be enforced under international law.
But Bolton said too many provisions would impinge on legal sales. ``We do not support measures that would constrain legal trade and legal manufacturing of small arms and light weapons.. The vast majority of arms transfers in the world are routine and not problematic.''
U.S. WARY OF WEAPONS BANS
As one of the world's largest suppliers of arms, the United States backs all sort of legal trade and Bolton fiercely guarded the rights of citizens to own guns.
``Small arms and light weapons, in our understanding are strictly military arms -- automatic rifles, machine guns, shoulder-fired missiles and rocket systems, light mortars -- that are contributing to continued violence and suffering in regions of conflict around the world,'' Bolton said.
``We separate these military arms from firearms such as hunting rifles and pistols,'' he said. ``It is the illicit trade in military small arms and light weapons that we are gathered here to address and that should properly concern us.''
But he added that Washington also opposed a suggestion in the draft document that national governments ``seriously consider'' banning unrestricted sales and ownership of small arms ''specifically designed for military purposes.''
Bolton found a proposal to crack down on government sales to rebel groups and other private organizations ``both conceptually and practically flawed.'' Such sales should be up to individual governments, he said.
``Perhaps most important, this proposal would preclude assistance to an oppressed non-state group defending itself from a genocidal government,'' he said.
The United Nations defines the meeting's focus as revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, light machine-guns, heavy machine-guns, mortars, hand grenades, grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns and portable missile launchers.
Human rights groups accuse the Bush administration of being more concerned about its ties to the National Rifle Association than the consequences of arms proliferation. The NRA has warned against any ``global gun control'' and urged members to demonstrate in New York.
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one shot~one kill
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States threw down the gauntlet on Monday at a U.N. small arms conference, saying it rejected any move to restrict the right of citizens to bear arms, even when these were designed for military use.
John Bolton, the U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control, told the first U.N. conference to curb small arms trafficking that he opposed a mandatory review of what individual countries had done, which he said would only serve only to ''institutionalize and bureaucratize this process.''
Nor would the administration of President Bush (news - web sites) support restrictions on arms trade to rebel groups, which could be defending themselves against a genocidal government, Bolton told the opening day of the conference.
A draft action plan that would end the two-week conference calls on countries to regulate arms brokers and ensure that manufacturers mark all small weapons so their movements can be traced.
The United Nations (news - web sites) maintains illegal trade in small arms is a billion-dollar-a-year business and directly or indirectly responsible for more than 1,000 deaths a day.
The document, which had already been watered down in preliminary meetings, is politically rather than legally binding, meaning it cannot be enforced under international law.
But Bolton said too many provisions would impinge on legal sales. ``We do not support measures that would constrain legal trade and legal manufacturing of small arms and light weapons.. The vast majority of arms transfers in the world are routine and not problematic.''
U.S. WARY OF WEAPONS BANS
As one of the world's largest suppliers of arms, the United States backs all sort of legal trade and Bolton fiercely guarded the rights of citizens to own guns.
``Small arms and light weapons, in our understanding are strictly military arms -- automatic rifles, machine guns, shoulder-fired missiles and rocket systems, light mortars -- that are contributing to continued violence and suffering in regions of conflict around the world,'' Bolton said.
``We separate these military arms from firearms such as hunting rifles and pistols,'' he said. ``It is the illicit trade in military small arms and light weapons that we are gathered here to address and that should properly concern us.''
But he added that Washington also opposed a suggestion in the draft document that national governments ``seriously consider'' banning unrestricted sales and ownership of small arms ''specifically designed for military purposes.''
Bolton found a proposal to crack down on government sales to rebel groups and other private organizations ``both conceptually and practically flawed.'' Such sales should be up to individual governments, he said.
``Perhaps most important, this proposal would preclude assistance to an oppressed non-state group defending itself from a genocidal government,'' he said.
The United Nations defines the meeting's focus as revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, light machine-guns, heavy machine-guns, mortars, hand grenades, grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns and portable missile launchers.
Human rights groups accuse the Bush administration of being more concerned about its ties to the National Rifle Association than the consequences of arms proliferation. The NRA has warned against any ``global gun control'' and urged members to demonstrate in New York.
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one shot~one kill
