Posted on 05/15/2006 5:45:47 PM PDT by girlangler
FEATURE
UN Redux Last Friday, The Shooting Wire reported on United States firearms executives briefing United Nations members on the "U-S side" of the world weapons story.
The United Nations will convene their Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and light Weapons later this month. That "UN Programme" incidentally, if ratified, would give the UN control over all weapons production, distribution and ownership globally. That control would put the United Nations in charge of all weapons, including those of law enforcement, setting strict limits on the types - and quantities - of weapons police departments could own. Those numbers, as offered today, would cap out police departments weaponry at one sidearm per officer and one "long gun" per every ten officers. There are no allowances for special weapons, tactical or other units in the formula.
As we reported last week, two major advocates for this disarmament plan are Japan and Canada, the two nations most historically - and heavily - dependent on the military support of the United States. Despite that dependence, however, representatives from both these nations have been pointed in their characterization of the United States and its firearms manufacturers as major providers of the flood of small arms being used in various conflicts around the globe.
As U-S manufacturers pointed out last week, that's not necessarily the case.
Canadians have reacted to our report. Our offices have received individual responses that offer support to the United States and seek to explain the seemingly baffling anti-American posture taken by the Canadian government over the past decade.
Dr. Gary Mauser, professor at Canada's Simon Frazier University and frequent analyst of firearms statistics and reports issued worldwide, writes to say not all Canadians agree with Canada's past leadership and active advocacy for the U-N plan.
"I have written the new Conservative government about some of the activities of the Foreign Office concerning their SALW efforts with the United Nations," Dr. Mauser writea, "Maybe now this issue will appear on their radar screens."
"The new government really does want to improve relations with the United States, and if they see they have a problem, they may well try to fix it."
For many of us to the north, what has been a significant shift in the Canadian political landscape- and governmental power - has gone largely unnoticed.
For the Canadian citizenry, however, it seems to be a welcome change.
"Our former Liberal government," one Canadian journalist wrote, "which was in power for 13 LONG years, worked to create as many issues with the United States as possible. Many were seemingly only for political purposes."
While the "former Liberal government" may have lost its majority position it seems their negative attitude toward the United States and positive spin on gun remain in many corners of Canadian government.
Key to Canada's support of the entire U-N disarmament movement is Canada's National Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs) at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). Having already spent "millions" in support of the United Nations disarmament initiative, the committee is headed by a Liberal party member who has said that despite lacking a mandate from the new Conservative government, he and the committee "will continue to act as if they do". In short, they'll continue spending Canadian dollars in support of the U-N disarmament position and will embarrass the United States whenever possible in the course of those efforts.
However, there may be a curve ball coming in the form of the Canadian Auditor General's Status Report to the House of Commons scheduled for tomorrow, May 16.
The A-G's report may provide a death blow to another sacred cow of Canada's Liberal Party, the Canadian Firearms Registry.
That Registry, touted to be a manageable, high-tech means of helping control firearms and lower crime across Canada's provinces, has proven to be a boondoggle almost beyond imagination. A previous review of the Candian Firearms Center said it best: "financial information was unreliable and insufficient to allow for Parliament's effective scrutiny or to explain the dramatic increase in the cost of the program. Since then, Parliament has expressed concern about the quality of information provided to it on the program's costs and performance."
Further, the InfoZone news service reports the Canadian Firearms Registry is not only expensive to operate, the multi-million dollar computer system appears unreliable unreliable, having suffered several significant failures throughout its brief history, and may also be vulnerable to attack by outsiders wanting to access those "secure" records.
John Hicks, a former firearm registry webmaster, told Canada's InfoZone he repeatedly warned CFC managers the registry site was an easy target.
"It took some $15 million to develop it, and I broke into it in about 30 minutes," stated Hicks. Hicks' warning went unheeded by Canada Firearm Centre officials, so Hicks eventually filed an official complaint with Canada's privacy commissioner. "
Basically, a 16-year-old kid could have broken into that system in a heartbeat," said Hicks.
So it seems tomorrow may be a significant day in the future aspirations of global gun control advocates. If Canada's new ruling party decides not to continue spending tens of millions of its citizens tax dollars in support of a failed firearms registry, the handwriting might also be on the wall for the United Nations funding paid by Canada's National Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).
If that happens, the United Nations may find one of their staunchest supporters found wanting at the funding window.
For those of us who have effectively written Canada off as a reliable U-S ally, it wouldn't be totally convince us of the change of attitude in Canada. But it would certainly represent a noteworthy start to a warming of relations.
We will keep you posted.
--- Jim Shepherd
You all might want to contact your gun control ping list.
Some interesting points in here about Canada, yank.
This series Jim is doing will be very interesting. I am quite impressed with his work, both on www.theshootingwire, and www.theoutdoorwire.
Ladysmith's area of expertise. :)
Its coming here too. They simply can't let us be free if they are going to control us.
Exercise your freedoms while you can, what's left of them.
Open borders, no firearms. Mr. Madison what have we done?
We're not finished yet.
Its not dark yet, but its getting there.
Not only must the US get the UN out of our constitution. We must get the UN out of the US; then, we must get the US out of the UN.
ROFLMAO! Love it.
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