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Day three at the UN gun ban conference

AlaskanAtHeart

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Jun 9, 2006
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Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
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Day three at the UN gun ban conference By Cam Edwards

Jun 29, 2006

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/CamEdwards/2006/06/29/203055.html

Hearing Angola and Cambodia detail their plans for rounding up all the guns owned by civilians is kind of like hearing that the Dixie Chicks are writing a song about America. You just know something bad’s going to happen in the end. And yet, that’s exactly what we heard on day 3 of the UN’s summit on small arms (Angola and Cambodia, not the Dixie Chicks. They haven’t been granted a seat on the Security Council… yet).

Angola, a country devastated by 24 years of civil war, is now in the process of making sure that citizens can never again revolt against the government. Minister of Justice Manuel Miguel da Costa Aragão told the assembled nations the, “disarmament process is being carried out in a systematic manner and on the basis of information provided by the population.” Even better, Angola wants other countries to help pay for the disarming of its citizens. The Justice Minister also said, “we seize this opportunity to ask for the support of the international community in the difficult task of disarming the civilian population.”

Yes, the civil war in Angola was devastating. An estimated 500,000 people lost their lives. But let’s be honest here. If there were any “good guys” in the civil war, they didn’t win. Our own State Department says in 2005 the country’s human rights record “remained poor and serious problems remained.” What type of problems?

- The abridgement of the rights of citizens to elect officials at all levels.
- Arbitrary arrest and detention.
- Unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, beatings, and abuse of persons.
- Lack of due process.
- Restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, and assembly.

Sounds like a wonderful place. I’m sure the government confiscation of all civilian-owned firearms has nothing to do with the abuses listed above. It’s purely a coincidence. And nothing bad will happen to the Angolans, I’m sure. I mean, it’s not like Angola is Rwanda. Or Sudan. Right?

Also speaking on Wednesday morning was Cambodian Undersecretary of State Sieng Lapresse. Cambodia, where over a million civilians lost their lives in a genocide, has banned the civilian possession of firearms. The fact that the Khmer Rouge were able to rule the country with an iron fist in part because of the strict gun control laws in place has been lost on the United Nations. I’m pretty sure the Cambodian government understands, however.

The State Department says the Cambodian government’s human rights record got worse in 2005, not better. “Contrary to past years,” it says, “there were no reports of politically motivated killings… however, extrajudicial killings occurred.” So the government killing civilians wasn’t political in nature. Well, that’s a relief.

The Cambodian genocide took place just a generation ago. Yet already the Cambodian government is disarming its citizens, with the approval and help of the United Nations and its disarmament program. In a perfect world, the United Nations would be holding an armament program for the people of Cambodia. It would understand the right of self-protection. It would understand that the State isn’t always the good guy.

Then again, in a perfect world, I doubt the UN would exist at all. Since it does, I invite you to log on to http://www.NRAnews.com and get the news from the UN (and elsewhere) each and every weekday. Executive Editor Ginny Simone is reporting live from the United Nations throughout the two-week summit, and we’ll be broadcasting the entire show live from New York for the summit’s final three days.

Cam Edwards is the host of “Cam and Company” on http://www.nranews.com and Sirius Satellite Radio. A veteran talk show host and political analyst, he blogs at http://www.camedwards.com in addition to his daily talk show. Cam lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and five children.
 

TaosGlock

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May 20, 2006
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AlaskanAtHeart wrote:
- The abridgement of the rights of citizens to elect officials at all levels.
- Arbitrary arrest and detention.
- Unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, beatings, and abuse of persons.
- Lack of due process.
- Restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, and assembly.
Some day the final war on guns will finally be declared. A "Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in" type of thing. The above quote from the article will also be in full effect.
 

Opie

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Jun 12, 2006
Messages
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Location
Bristol, Virginia, USA
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TaosGlock wrote: [/b]
AlaskanAtHeart wrote:
- (1) The abridgement of the rights of citizens to elect officials at all levels.
- (2) Arbitrary arrest and detention.
- (3) Unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, beatings, and abuse of persons.
- (4) Lack of due process.
-Restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, and assembly.
Some day the final war on guns will finally be declared. A "Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in" type of thing. The above quote from the article will also be in full effect.
Thanks for the updates on the UN conference, AlaskanAtHeart! TaosGlock's comments reminded me of a certain document that is good to read on July Fourth. The situations do not necessarily correlate, but the conditions are similar to the ones that prompted the American colonies to revolt against Great Britain. Fortunately for us those men had the resolve and the means to forge a new, better government!

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html

(1) - He [the King of Great Britain] has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
- He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

(2) - He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

(3) - He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
- He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

(4) - He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
- For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
 
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