Bolton magnificent in defense of Second Amendment by Jim Butler

Bolton magnificent in defense of
Second Amendment

Jim Butler
President, SCRA
August 2006 GunNews

The recent United Nations small arms conference has ended in disarray. Anthea Lawson, spokesperson for the gun control international Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), said "This was a total meltdown".

While some gun control advocates blamed the United States for its hard line on gun ownership and international regulation of ammunition, many countries also objected to clauses in the UN's program of action to eradicate the illegal arms trade which would restrict their ability to buy or sell small arms.

I remind the American voters in the upcoming elections that the Bush administration has twice saved our right to keep and bear arms from being destroyed by the United Nations. All it would have taken to lose our Second Amendment Rights was a few hundred changes votes in Florida in 2000, or if 60,000 votes had changed in Ohio in 2004, the results of the 2001 and 2006 U.N. gun-control conferences would have been totally different. We would now be operating under a legally binding international treaty creating international regulations against civilian gun ownership. A Presidential signature on the treaty even if it was never brought to the Senate floor for ratification could then through Executive Orders erode our Second Amendment Rights with the help of some of our courts who are inclined to use unratified treaties to guide them in interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

While there are plenty of issues on which pro-Constitution Americans can differ with the Bush administration on continued or worsened bad policies from previous administrations, his defense of the Second Amendment from the United Nations attack on it, has been magnificent. John Bolton (in 2001 as Undersecretary of State, and in 2006 as U.N. Ambassador) has served exceedingly well as point man in the U.S. effort.

Anyway, the U.N. Small Arms conference ended in a deadlock with no formal conclusions or recommendations on ammunition, civilian possession of firearms or future U.N. meetings, or for that matter any other subjects, were adopted. The failure of this five-year program to impact the legitimate firearms industry, and the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens was total. However, anti-gun NGOs (non government organizations) and liberal governments served notice they would try again in the U.N. General Assembly this fall.

Many thanks should also be given to NRA Board members Bob Barr, David Keene and Jim Gilmore for their crucial participation in this significant victory for firearm owners.

Those people who still believe in the U.N. Small Arms attempt to disarm people worldwide should read:

Human Rights Atrocities: The Consequences of United Nations Gun Confiscation in East Africa. IB-2006-F June 2006
by David B. Kopel, Paul Gallant, and Joanne D. Eisen Independence Institute www.IndependenceInstitute.org

It tells of Kenyan and Uganda carrying out "forced disarmament" programs as desired by the United Nations, pursuant to the Nairobi Protocal, an East Africa Treaty banning unlicensed gun possession unless you were one of the ruling elites. This "forced disarmament" was a crucial step in the destruction of all rights, or the destruction of life itself, except, of course, the ruling elite.

An evil program of such massive human rights atrocity which produces so much cruelty including unrestrained murder, rape, torture, arson, and causing so many innocent men, women and children to be turned into starving refugees in places like Bouganville, Uganda, Kenya, Bosnia, and Zimbabwe, should be stopped immediately.

The United States and all other civilized countries should withdraw financial support from the United Nations until they cease their forced "disarmament programs" that have caused so much suffering.

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