"Last year, the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights declared that international human rights law requires all nations to adopt strict gun control laws. These "minimum" provisions are much more restrictive than any of those on the books anywhere in the U.S. and would almost certainly violate the Second Amendment of our Constitution.
Besides concluding that all nations are obligated under international human rights law to control the small arms and light weapons to which its civilian population has access, the UN report remarkably denied the existence of any human right to self-defense, evidently overlooking the work of Hugo Grotius, the 17th century scholar credited as the founder of international law, who wrote, "It is to be observed that [the] Right of Self-Defence, arises directly and immediately from the Care of our own Preservation, which Nature recommends to every one. . . ," and that this right is so primary, that it cannot be denied on the basis that it is not "expressly set forth."
There is another disturbing aspect to this call for international global gun control. Throughout modern history, the forced disarmament of people by its government has often been accompanied or followed by that government's commission of often massive human rights abuses. In fact, no genocide in the 20th century occurred when the victim population still possessed small arms, legally or illegally, with which to defend themselves.
So now the UN wants to disarm civilians? Where was the UN when the massacres in Rwanda occurred? What did the UN do to protect the victims of ethnic massacres in Bosnia? Disarming civilians under the guise of international human rights law will only lead to more such genocides by ensuring that civilians can never defend themselves! It would be funny if it weren't so perverse.
Thankfully, the Framers of our Constitution recognized this potential peril to our liberty, and enshrined in our Second Amendment the more basic right of self-defense. The U.N. can say what it likes about other countries' citizens' possession of small arms being a violation of human rights law, but so long as the United States is a sovereign nation governed by its Constitution, its words will have no effect here. And I am glad for it."
by Fanny Carrier Sat Oct 27, 3:53 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Burglars in the United States could once sue homeowners if they were shot, but now a growing number of states have made it legal to shoot to kill when somebody breaks into a house.
John Woodson, 46, found that out last week when he ambled into Dennis Baker's open garage in a Dallas suburb. A surveillance video showed the robber strolling inside, hands in his pockets.
From the shadows, Baker opened fire and killed Woodson.
"I just had to protect myself and that was it," Baker told reporters despite the fact Woodson had not tried to enter the bedroom near the garage where Baker had been sleeping.
The incident made national headlines since it was Baker's parrot that gave the alarm when it innocently squawked "good morning" at the intruder.
But Woodson's death seemed anecdotal compared to another Dallas resident who a few days earlier had killed his second robber in three weeks inside his home.
Police are investigating both cases, but it is unlikely charges will be filed. Texas recently passed a law branding anybody breaking into a home or car as a real threat of injury or death to its occupants.
In contrast with traditional self-defense laws, this measure does not require that a person who opens fire on a burglar be able to prove that he or she was physically threatened, that force was used only as a last resort and that the victim had first tried to hide.
Florida was the first state to adopt in 2005 a law that was dubbed "Stand your ground" or "Shoot first."
But now they have proliferated largely under pressure from the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA), the main weapons lobby in the United States.
Today 19 out of 50 US states, mostly in the south and the central regions of the country, have this kind of laws, and similar legislation is pending in about a dozen others.
"This law will bring common-sense self-defense protections to law-abiding citizens," said Rachel Parsons, a spokesperson for the NRA.
"If someone is breaking into your home, it's obvious that they are not there to have dinner with you," she continued. "You do have a right to protect your belongings, your family and yourself.
"The law needs to be put on the side of the victim, and not on the side of the criminal, who is attacking the victim."
But for the Freedom States Alliance that fights against the proliferation of firearms in the United States, these new laws attach more value to threatened belongings than to the life of the thief and only serve to increase the number of people killed by firearms each year, which currently is estimated to stand at nearly 30,000.
"It's that whole Wild West mentality that is leading the country down a very dangerous path," said Sally Slovenski, executive director of the alliance.
"In any other country, something like the castle doctrine or stand-your-ground laws look like just absolute lunacy," she continued.
"And yet in this country, somehow it's been justified, and people just sort of have come to live with this, and they just don't see the outrage in this."
According to Federal Bureau of Investigation, there were 2.18 million burglaries to the United States in 2006, up 1.3 percent compared to the year before.
But the number is still well below the 3.24 million burglaries a year committed 20 years ago.
"After securing military contracts for anti-materiel sniping (Generators, vehicles, radars, etc), and facing the wrath of Sarah Brady and her Gun-Grabbing Sideshow (which wrath he snickered at, it having all the intimidation of an angry kitten and Ronnie, as we noted, being a Viking), he gave the ultimate middle finger gesture and redesigned the weapon into 25 mm, or TWICE as big. This is a man so cool even his sperm smoke unfiltered Camels."
Two students at Prairie Junior High School were arrested Friday after ammunition was found in a school bathroom, prompting a lengthy lockdown at the Alsip school.
The two 13-year-old boys brought rifle cartridges into the school from a storage shed they broke into a few blocks away, Police Chief Robert Troy said. Additional rounds were found outside the school. No firearms were brought into the school,
The boys were each charged late Friday with one count of burglary and one count of possession of ammunition, police said. They were released to their parents.
Police received a call about the ammunition about 9:45 a.m.
Friday was supposed to be a half day of school today at Prairie Junior High but the last students didn’t leave until after 2 p.m.
The school was locked down and students were told to stay in their classrooms, then all were taken to the gymnasium. Students’ lockers were searched, and they were not allowed to take home their bookbags, seventh-grader Dan Lesko said.
Sandy Lesko, Dan’s mom, said parents received two alerts from the school.
Later, parents who showed up were allowed, one by one, to take their children home.
Students who ride the bus were released next, then students who normally walk home were dismissed about 2:15 p.m.
Police from at least six surrounding towns were at the school.
GUN CHAT
Come chat with me (xilch) every Sunday from 11AM to 2PM PST.
Listen to Gun Talk at the same time, while you chat.
