[Towed_Jumper]

My hope is that this does not become "training" for US soldiers to replicate in US cities under a President B. Hussein Obama Administration.

[Towed_Jumper]

Joe, This may be of interest to your BANG List...

[Califreak]

That can’t be good.

I mean-I know it’s Baghdad, but still...

[WayneS]

Well, you’re free to hope...

[CodeToad]

???

[stuartcr]

Does this mean that the only guys that have weapons in Baghdad are the bad guys and our military? I pity the poor Iraqi when our troops leave. There’s no way I would voluntarily turn-in my weapons.

[cripplecreek]

The constitution overrides even the most fevered dreams of any president.

[wolfcreek]

There was recently a thread about troops returning from Iraq/Afgan that were being trained to deal with crisis here in the US. (natural disasters, civil unrest, etc.)

[unixfox]

I thought they wanted to make Iraq a FREE country.

Guess not!

[wastedyears]

They’re doing it again.

[Joe Brower]

Interesting.

Can anyone who's been in-country confirm or deny this?

[NRA2BFree]

Why are they doing this? I think the same thing will happen there as it will happen here. Only the law abiding will give their guns up, leaving the terrorists/criminals the only ones who have guns. Once our troops are gone, it’s going to be like it was when Saddam was in power. Those poor people won’t be able to defend themselves!

[beltfed308]

This is just wrong!

[DBrow]

If I remember correctly, this was done when we first went in, but it was privately-owned machineguns and rocket launchers that were being “taken off the streets”.

Yes, the oppressed Iraqi people could own an M60 or FAL or rocket launcher at home, unlike the free people here. Remember the pictures of people firing full-auto into the air?

Now I guess this is phase 2.

[mysterio]

How are the citizens of Baghdad supposed to defend themselves? This is a bad idea. A lot of households won't give up their weapons and our soldiers are going to be in firefights with the good guys.

Who in the hell came up with this plan?

[marktwain]

This is a gift from L. Paul (Jerry) Bremer III, the first administrator that President Bush appointed. As I recall, Bremer was from New York, and insisted that the Iraqi Constitution not contain any right to keep and bear arms. Instead, a clause was inserted ( or changed to read) that the government had the right to tell the people whether they could have arms or not.

Perhaps someone has better info on this, but I remember that I was horrified when I saw that clause in the Iraqi constitution.

[marktwain]

Here it is from the Iraqi Constitution:

Article 17 [Licensed Arms]
It shall not be permitted to possess, bear, buy, or sell arms except on licensure issued in accordance with the law.

Here is the link:

http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/iz00000_.html