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BEIJING — Secretary of State John Kerry flew to China on Saturday and offered a concession on missile defense meant to elicit China’s help in dealing with an increasingly recalcitrant and nuclear armed North Korea. In a news conference following meetings with China’s top leaders, Mr. Kerry said that the United States would reduce its missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program. Mr. Kerry’s overture appeared aimed at addressing Chinese concerns that North Korea’s provocative actions were leading the United States to build up military strength in the region as China is boosting its own...

The Second Amendment got attacked this week from three sides, leaving gun owners scrambling to find safe ground. While President Obama has lost momentum for federal gun-control laws, he has picked up victories with his allies in blue states and at the United Nations. After Thursday, Connecticut should consider changing its state nickname from the “Constitution State” to the “Unconstitutional State” after Gov. Dannel Malloy signed an extremely restrictive gun-control law. The bill passed the state House Thursday morning and the Senate on Wednesday. Before the Newtown tragedy, the Brady Campaign determined that Connecticut was the fifth highest-rated state for...

Individuals 55 and older would lose their right to keep and bear arms under a provision that’s expected to be included as part of a comprehensive United Nations Global Arms Trade Treaty. UN Secretary Gen. Ban Ki-moon spoke about the impetus behind the controversial measure at a press conference over the weekend in New York City, the site of the final negotiations between the 193 Member States. “Regulating the international transfers of both weapons and ammunition is a key component of a robust arms trade treaty, as is limiting civilian access to small arms and munitions,” said Ban Ki-moon. “There’s...

... Stevens is not actually the father of a Sandy Hook student. Victoria is a fifth-grader at Reed Intermediate School, located about a mile or so from the elementary school that was the scene of the tragic mass shooting. In fairness to Stevens, the misinformation was not his doing. While his original remarks were a little ambigious—he said that his daughter "was in lockdown" during the shooting and that "her classmate’s little sister was murdered in Sandy Hook that day"—he's already gone out of his way to correct the error, emailing the Examiner to set the story straight: Thank you...

NEWTOWN -- Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson was one of millions awed by the debut of 26 Sandy Hook third- and fourth-graders singing "America the Beautiful'' at the Super Bowl pre-game show in New Orleans. .................. Weeks earlier, a different group of 21 Newtown youngsters had stirred similar emotions when they sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on national TV. Now, Robinson is in the center of what has gone from murmurs into a simmering dispute over which singing group truly represents Sandy Hook. The drama over the two different groups started after New York music producer Tim Hayes decided to tap...

A group of 18 former military and national security officials wrote to President Barack Obama on Friday urging the administration to cancel plans for further cuts in United States nuclear warheads, warning that new arms reductions would undermine U.S. security. The ex-officials, including two former members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated in the letter to Obama that North Korea’s recent underground nuclear test, and concerns about growing Pyongyang-Tehran nuclear arms cooperation, undermines any further disarmament sought by the president. “In our professional judgment, born of decades of experience with national security policy and practice, America’s ‘triad’ of nuclear-armed...

Already, there are signs that Governor Cuomo and his allies underestimated the pushback. As draconian, ill-advised, and possibly unconstitutional as the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (NY SAFE) anti-gun law was when it was hastily signed into law, it might have been far worse — this according to a New York legislator who fought against the bill.Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin has released documentation showing rejected Democratic proposals for the NY SAFE Act. They included these: Confiscation of all firearms arbitrarily redefined as “assault weapons”Labeling semi-automatic shotguns as “assault weapons” if they can hold more than five rounds or have...

The gun control hysteria and propaganda emanating from President Barak Obama, members of Congress, state legislators, mayors of major cities and assorted interest groups finds them in a considerable dither. With some wanting no less that the eventual confiscation of any weapon that can shoot more than one round of ammunition upon reloading, a rancorous debate and considerable push-back from the grass roots of the nation is inevitable. The very use of the term "assault weapon" — a propaganda term for any semi-automatic firearm — has been repeated so many times by media pundits that the very term has lost...

“There has to be a national conversation” about gun control, says Nancy Pelosi. The killing of school children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut and other shootings since have turned up the heat. If, after Newtown, it’s all talk and no action, the former House Speaker said this week, “it’ll amount to a dereliction of duty on the part of us in public office.” Too right. Pelosi wants to see action. The president’s demanding it too. So are state leaders. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has his sights set on the presidency (if you’ll excuse the expression), has proposed not...

Generally it means that even the severely reduced number of warheads deployed in our arsenal would not -- if they were needed in a crisis -- be available for use. If that in fact took place -- with countries hostile to the US having arsenals in excess of the US force -- it would probably be in irresistible invitation to them to attack. Former Senator Chuck Hagel, nominated to be Secretary of Defense, is also a signatory of what is known as the "Global Zero" plan. It calls for the United States and Russia to begin comprehensive nuclear arms negotiations...

I often have SurvivalBlog readers forward me alarmist e-mails, warning of "total disarmament" of the civilian populace. While there indeed may be plans or schemes to disarm Americans, I don't consider these threats credible. Let me explain why: I would conservatively estimate that there are about 316 million firearms in private hands in the United States. Of these, less than 10% are logged in any formal registry. Perhaps another 30% have Form 4473s filed with the FFL dealers where they were first purchased, but that is a fractured mishmash of records with a quite perishable life span. It is notable...

In January, Senator Feinstein will introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devises. Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation: Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of: -120 specifically-named firearms -Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic -Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds

(Reuters) - Hours after U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected, the United States backed a U.N. committee's call on Wednesday to renew debate over a draft international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade. U.N. delegates and gun control activists have complained that talks collapsed in July largely because Obama feared attacks from Republican rival Mitt Romney if his administration was seen as supporting the pact, a charge Washington denies. The month-long talks at U.N. headquarters broke off after the United States - along with Russia and other major arms producers - said it had problems with...

Defense: The fruit of unilateral disarmament, appeasement and promised "flexibility" patrols our East Coast near one of our largest ballistic missile submarine bases. Defense cuts and Russian subs — a double whammy. 'On June 1 or a bit later, we will resume constant patrolling of the world's oceans by strategic nuclear submarines," Russian Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said in February. Keeping that promise, a Russian Sierra-2 class nuclear attack submarine cruised within 200 miles of our East Coast on the eve of a U.S. presidential election in which defense spending and priorities were a key issue. This is the...

The Sept. 1 editorial “Loose talk on nuclear weapons” missed the true significance of President Obama’s breach of his nuclear weapons funding commitments. His proposed $370 million cuts — with billions more to come — are not just a “minor dip.” They go to the heart of the program to refurbish aging warheads and infrastructure. Ironically, the cut will delay or prevent achievement of one of the goals of the president’s 2010 Nuclear Posture Review: reducing the number of “hedge” warheads in our stockpile. Moreover, the president abandoned commitments he made to win support for New START. In his letter...

WASHINGTON — Americans following this year's presidential campaign would never know it from mainstream media coverage, but the commander in chief we hired four years ago has set the United States on a course for unilateral disarmament. The following people hope you won't notice until after Nov. 6: Vladimir Putin, Liang Guanglie, Kim Jong-un, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, A.Q. Khan and of course, Barack Obama. The 10 individuals above share a common fascination: nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin, Russia's modern czar; Liang Guanglie, minister of national defense for...

Small Arms Insurgents, armed gang members, pirates, terrorists - they can all multiply their force through the use of unlawfully acquired firepower. The illicit circulation of small arms, light weapons and their ammunition destabilizes communities, and impacts security and development in all regions of the world. Programme of Action Implementation Support System: PoA-ISSUN Meetings on small armsSecretary-General's report on small arms (2011)Secretary-General's report on small arms (2008) A worldwide scourge The illicit trade in small arms, light weapons and ammunition wreaks havoc everywhere. Mobs terrorizing a neighbourhood. Rebels attacking civilians or peacekeepers. Drug lords randomly killing law enforcers or anyone...

Disarming America: The former vice president and defense secretary journeys to Capitol Hill to warn that looming mandated defense cuts will only imperil our ability to defend ourselves and our interests. If there's a common thread that runs through President Obama's policies, it's that they all seem to have the purpose of strengthening government power at home and/or weakening American power abroad. To President Obama, impending massive defense cuts merely means we can beat our swords into Chevy Volts. We have documented as part of our "Obama Record" series and before how the president has been dismantling America's defense brick...

We've heard a lot lately about the UN Arms Trade Treaty. This video from InfoWars will curl your hair. It connects the Treaty with a 1961 State Department document with the chilling title "Declaration on Disarmament - General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World." The original document is from 1961 in conjunction with the U.S. State Department and the United Nations. It mimics many provisions of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 2000 (UNMDG) that I beat on routinely. I know what many of you will say, 'this is old,' has no meaning today, but let me ask you,...

The Obama Record: In pursuit of a world without nuclear weapons, the president finalizes plans to decimate our nuclear deterrent and reduce our warhead count beyond even treaty commitments. President John F. Kennedy once said of those who would oppose us: "We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed." That was the longstanding reason for our nuclear deterrence strategy. President Obama has decided that indeed we are going to tempt them with weakness. According to an Associated Press report on...