“The anti-gun movement wants to use the UN as its mother ship.”
The emphasis then shifted to international affairs, as another panel offered a briefing on activities at the United Nations.
Author and Internet blogger Howard Nemerov discussed how the UN rates various nations for corruption and freedom. He explained that countries with the highest percentage of firearms ownership have the greatest freedom and lowest crime and homicide rates, while nations where gun control is strongest, and people do not have the right to own guns, the situation is much worse. He warned that international gun control activists such as Rebecca Peters, the infamous chair of Australia’s National Coalition for Gun Control and now head of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), want the US to be poorer and less safe.
David Kopel, a Second Amendment scholar and research director for the Independence Institute, examined the gun issue “from the perspective of a President Obama.” He predicted that Obama, if elected, would quickly set out to establish the best way to restrict public firearms ownership without having to pass any legislation. The easiest route, he said, would be through the United Nations, which could pass a treaty demanding such restrictions.
Kopel said this effort began under the Clinton Administration, and it was only through the effort of former UN Ambassador John Bolton that this program was derailed. But there remains a threat that a new international treaty could disarm American citizens by declaring that self-defense is a human rights violation.
“I can guarantee you,” he said, “that the Obama presidency would instruct the State Department to restrict human rights.”
Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action, said there are still millions of guns and gunowners in Canada, and that with the election of a conservative government, that country’s gun registration legislation would likely be removed. He said the UN has traditionally exempted military organizations from gun control efforts, and he warned that what has happened in Canada could easily happen in the United States under the wrong administration.
“The good news is that the United Nations can’t get anything right,” he said.
Attorney Mark Barnes of Washington, DC, amplified the notion that the UN is out to take guns away from Americans.
“The anti-gun movement wants to use the UN as its mother ship,” he said.
The strategy is to wear this country down gradually, with the ultimate goal of disarming the citizens. However, up to now those efforts have been stymied.
However, Barnes warned that “our international adversaries…are the biggest cheerleading squad for Barack Obama there is.”
Special address
One highlight of the conference was a special address by Arizona state Senate President Timothy S. Bee, a candidate for Congress from the state’s 8th District.
Introduced by Froman, Bee scored points with his audience quickly by recalling his sponsorship of so-called Castle Doctrine legislation that was adopted in Arizona.
“No one should have to fear prosecution for the simple act of defending one’s home and family,” he stated.
Bee, a supporter of gun shows, told the audience that “The enemies of gun ownership will not go away, they will not rest.”
The ultimate goal, he suggested, is to regulate shooting and hunting to discourage gun ownership and erase it.
“Our future depends upon our resolve to protect our way of life as a free people,” Bee concluded.
A highlight of the awards luncheon speakers that followed Bee to the microphone was victorious lead attorney Alan Gura, who argued the Heller case before the Supreme Court this past March. He received a standing ovation, and was also presented with one of Smith & Wesson’s “Heller Case Commemorative” Model 442 revolvers. This handgun is a five-shot hammerless J-frame chambered in .38 Special with special laser engraving on the right sideplate honoring the Heller ruling.
Sales of these commemorative revolvers will generate funds for the Second Amendment Foundation’s continuing legal battles.
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