- Making a link between U.S. gun sales and "global
instability," Moscow has lent its support to American gun-control
advocates.
-
- Russia supports restrictions on U.S. gun ownership,
according
to official sources, pointing out that after the events of Sept. 11 gun
sales in the United States increased.
-
- The blame for increased gun sales, according to Moscow
and anti- gun activists, lies with gun manufacturers.
-
- "American firearms manufacturers saw their chance
at profiting from the tragedy of people scared of threats from
international
terrorists," Moscow declared. Asserting that "a nationwide
campaign
has been launched to advertise pistols and guns," Moscow referred
to a recent press conference held to "draw attention to gun makers'
marketing efforts." The event included participation by Rep. Henry
Waxman, D-Calif., Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and Nan Aron, president
of the Alliance for Justice.
-
- The statements were reported by the Voice of Russia World
Service, the official broadcasting service of the Russian
government.
-
- The broadcast referred to two instances of the criminal
use of firearms in the U.S. - a shooting in Indiana and the arrest of an
individual for illegal possession of weapons near the White House - and
declared that the crimes were "facts testifying to the spread of small
arms in the country."
-
- Moscow also constructed a strained connection between
terrorists and gun-sales campaigns following 9-11. After noting that the
U.S. State Department has threatened to deport aliens connected with some
39 organizations suspected of assisting terrorist groups, the link was
made to gun sales.
-
- "There are still a large number of people in the
United States who could use the gun-sales campaign for criminal
purposes,"
Moscow reasoned, and then called for "certain measures inside the
United States, which would obstruct the terrorist activity."
-
- Observers note that, since using weapons for criminal
purposes is - by definition - illegal, Moscow's reference to "certain
measures inside the United States" translates into restrictions on
gun ownership for U.S. citizens.
-
- The sale of a "United We Stand" 9-millimeter
pistol - patterned after those used by U.S. military personnel - by the
U.S. division of the Italian arms maker Beretta irked both Moscow and
participants
in the anti-gun news conference.
-
- Beretta's promise to pay a portion of the sale of each
pistol to survivors and relatives of the Sept. 11 attacks was particularly
irritating to the gun-control advocates.
-
- Moscow cited remarks from firearms opponent Aron who
condemned Beretta's contribution offer, stating that "we shouldn't
seek to help the victims of one senseless tragedy by increasing the
likelihood
of more senseless tragedies."
-
- Moscow added that "the spread of small arms causes
concern in many countries," and referred to a recent conference in
the Russian capital linking "global instability with the spread of
small arms."
-
- The anti-gun activists with whom Moscow found close
agreement
are strengthening their efforts and are attempting to make the anti-gun
movement into a youth crusade.
-
- Aron's group, the Alliance for Justice, has opened a
new website, Gun Industry Watch, dedicated to monitoring the "gun
industry and the National Rifle Association."
-
- The new anti-gun group proclaims itself to be "a
new student watchdog network" that will examine "the
manufacturing,
marketing and sale of guns." The group promises to "take direct
action aimed at gun makers and the gun lobby," including
"exposing
and boycotting corporate partners and sponsors of the gun
lobby."
-
- Gun Industry Watch claims that it is the "fastest
growing student network in the country."
-
- Moscow's connection of U.S. gun sales to problems of
"global stability" are not new. In late July, the U.N.
Conference
on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons concluded its
deliberations.
-
- Due to substantial U.S. pressure, the conference
refrained
from issuing a global call for "regulation on the ownership of small
arms."
-
- Observers note that many of the nations at the conference
have placed severe small arms restrictions on their populations, and many
of these same governments - as well as the leaders of these governments
themselves - are regularly accused of murder, fraud and intimidation of
their defenseless citizens.
-
-
- I.J. Toby Westerman is a contributing reporter for
WorldNetDaily
who focuses on current events in the Commonwealth of Independent States
and the Balkans.
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