Gun rights groups rip U.N. chief's 'hypocrisy'

Josey1

Gun rights groups rip U.N. chief's 'hypocrisy' By Steve MillerTHE WASHINGTON TIMES Gun-rights groups yesterday criticized the United Nations after revelations that security officers for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan may be illegally carrying automatic weapons. The "draconian" gun-control measures advocated by the United Nations apparently are not applicable to Mr. Annan, said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association. "It's the height of hypocrisy," said John Velleco, a spokesman for the Gun Owners of America. "The U.N. wants to regulate small arms worldwide, but apparently, that doesn't apply to them." U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said that all weapons carried by Mr. Annan's detail are properly licensed and registered. "What weapons our security people purchase for use, as a matter of policy, any weapons we purchase, we purchase legally," he said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms confirmed this week that Mr. Annan's security detail is being investigated for carrying German-made MP5 machine guns. The U.N. security service isn't considered a law-enforcement organization and is not allowed to carry weapons such as the MP5, a State Department official said this week. But U.N. security officers have been doing so since 1998, according to sources with the U.N. Security and Safety Service. Mr. Annan, who is from Ghana, is a longtime vocal opponent of small arms. Last year, he led an international conference against the manufacture and sale of such weapons, which included submachine guns. Among the restrictions he supported were tighter export controls. "He now finds himself at legal odds with them," said Mr. Arulanandam. "If the law has been broken, let them pay the price. It's a fairly straightforward issue." Matt Bennett, a spokesman for Americans for Gun Safety, said, "If these guns were improperly imported, we would certainly urge the U.N. to investigate and rectify this." Mr. Eckhard declined to discuss details of the weapons he said have been cleared. "I would never admit to you that we have Colt 45s or MP5s. That's a classified matter," he said. Machine guns have been banned in the United States since 1986. Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, said U.N. security is "flouting" the ban, sending a "terrible message to the average citizen." She noted that the issue aligns her group, an anti-gun organization, with pro-gun lobbies. "The other side is always saying, 'Let's enforce the laws that are on the books,' and in this case, that's what needs to be done. Whether it's [National Rifle Association President] Charlton Heston or Kofi Annan, or whoever, there are laws." http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020222-74555556.htm

SUBMARINER

IS THERE SOME KIND OF CONGRESSIONAL OR SENATORIAL COMMITTEE WHOS COGNIZANCE THIS WOULD FALL UNDER?WE SHOULD ALL WRITE OUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS AND DEMAND A FULL INVESTIGATION.FOREIGN NATIONALS GETTING AWAY WITH WHAT NO AMERICAN CITEZEN COULD,AS GRAMMA USED TO SAY MAKES ME MAD ENOUGH TO DIP SNUFF,SO IM GONNA OPEN THAT CAN OF COPENHAGEN NOW

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SUBMARINE SAILOR,TRUCK DRIVER,NE'ER DO WELL, INSTIGATOR,AND RUSTY WALLACE FAN

Lowrider

Wait 'till his bodyguards shoot some citizen. Then I suppose they'll demand diplomatic immunity.If we throw the whole sorry-assed organization out of the United States we won't be concerned over how they're arming themselves.

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Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.

mudge

Lowrider.....imwichu. Throw the whole sorry * lot out. The U.N. has become nothing more than a mechanism for third world countries to bleed us dry and to try to foist their lack of rights on us.Mudge the isolationist

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I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!

Iconoclast

It's a terrible thing to say, but I must confess that one of my first reactions when I saw the second plane fly into the WTC & realized it was a terrorist attack rather than a tragic accident was regret that the UN building had not been the target.

Lowrider

Said the same thing myself, Bro.

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Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.

BlueTic

Yeah - I thought the same. Why kill inocents when there is a whole building of idiots?

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IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)