Category Archives: DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Kofi Annan, Foreign Ministers Pledge Support for a Mine-Free World by 2025

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines

Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan joined Foreign Ministers from Canada, Chile and Colombia in a packed room of Geneva’s Palais des Nations on 2 March 2016, pledging support for the Mine Ban Treaty as states embark on the “final stretch” towards a mine-free world. More than 35 donor states and states with landmine contamination, as well as mine clearance experts and UN bodies, explained how they will work towards this goal.

landmines

Other eminent personalities lending their support during the high-level panel opening the First International Pledging Conference for the Implementation of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention included the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Director of the United Nations Office in Geneva, the Head of Danish Demining Group, and the Campaign Manager of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

The half-day conference highlighted the need for sustained financial resources and political support to meet the goals of the Mine Ban Treaty to the fullest extent possible by 2025, an aspirational deadline embraced by States Parties to the treaty during an international meeting in Maputo in 2014. It also aimed at ensuring sufficient resources for the treaty’s Implementation Support Unit.

Chile hosted the event, as current President of the Mine Ban Treaty, announcing that “Much remains to be done but the end is in sight. We are now in the last stretch towards a mine-free world!”

Sri Lanka surprised the audience with the announcement that the Cabinet had approved accession to the Mine Ban Treaty, a major development in South Asia where only three states (India, Nepal and Pakistan) will remain outside the treaty after Sri Lanka formally accedes.

1 March 2016 marked 17 years since the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty, a historical instrument of disarmament and humanitarian law. Under the treaty, states have stopped using, producing and selling antipersonnel mines, they have destroyed some 49 million stockpiled mines, cleared vast tracts of land, and taken steps to provide assistance to victims of the weapon. With 162 States Parties, the Mine Ban Treaty is one of the most universally accepted treaties.

More about the Pledging Conference:

Highlights from the conference storified by Michael P. Moore from Landmines in Africa

Canada Recommits to a Mine-Free World while Sri Lanka Approves Accession to Ottawa Treaty, Mines Action Canada

A Mine-Free World Is Possible, Danish Refugee Council / Danish Demining Group

(Thank you to the Good News Agency for calling this to our attention.)

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

David v Goliath: Marshall Islands take on nuclear powers at UN court

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from RT.com

The Marshall Islands launch a legal campaign against the UK, India and Pakistan this week [March 6] in a David versus Goliath battle to achieve the goal of a “nuclear free universe”. The islands accuse the nuclear states of failing to halt the nuclear arms race, and are urging the UN’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to pursue a lawsuit against all three.

marshall-islands
Video: Tony de Brum Explains Marshall Islands Lawsuits

The Pacific Ocean territory, used as a US nuclear testing site for 12 years, filed applications with the ICJ in April 2014 accusing the world’s nine nuclear-armed states of not respecting their nuclear disarmament obligations under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and customary international law.

The nine nations possessing nuclear arsenals are the US, the UK, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel – though Israel is the only one which never acknowledged holding nuclear weapons.

The court admitted the cases brought against the UK, India and Pakistan because the three states have already recognised the ICJ’s authority.

The islands’ former Minister of Foreign Affairs Tony de Brum said they commenced “this lawsuit with the greatest respect and the greatest admiration for the big countries of the world, but we think it must be done”.

Hearings will take place in The Hague Monday to examine whether the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is competent to hear the lawsuits against India and Pakistan. Another hearing will take place on Wednesday to examine “preliminary objections” raised by London in the case against Britain, according to AFP.

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Question related to this article:

Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

(Article continued from left column)

De Brum has said the people of the Marshalls suffer quietly but they take this suit in “the cause of a nuclear free universe”.

“We are fighting for what we believe is the only solution in terms of peace and prosperity in the world.”

Olivier Ribbelink, senior researcher at the TMC Asser Institute in The Hague says “the case is in a very preliminary stage at this point”, but added: “Either way the outcome, the case has certainly sharply refocused attention on the dangers of nuclear proliferation.”

De Brum and the Marshall Islands legal team have been nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

De Brum was nine years old when the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb was dropped by the US on Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954 during the Cold War nuclear arms race.

The 15-megatonne bomb was the largest US nuclear test on record at 1000-times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The resulting characteristic mushroom cloud reached a diameter of 7km (4.5 miles) and a height of almost 40,000 meters (130,000ft) within six minutes of detonation.

The US carried out 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.

Bikini Islanders lived in exile since they were moved for the first US weapons test, though some returned in the early 1970s after government scientists declared Bikini safe for resettlement.

However, residents were removed again in 1978 after ingesting high levels of radiation from eating local foods grown on the former nuclear testing site.

The Marshall Islands is appealing to the US Supreme Court after its case against the country was dismissed by a US federal court last year.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, East Asia

United Kingdom: Thousands call for Britain’s nuclear deterrent Trident to be scrapped

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Deutsche Welle

Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those marching against the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons program. Critics say there is growing opposition to the Cold War-era submarine fleet. “If a nuclear war took place there would be mass destruction on both sides of the conflict. Everyone should think about the humanitarian effects on people across this globe if they’re ever used,” Corbyn told the estimated 10,000-strong crowd gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday.

trident
Click on image to enlarge

Corbyn, who has been a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) since he was 16, said he had been elected Labour leader on a manifesto in which standing against the renewal of Trident was a key component.

Waving placards and banners, the protesters called on the government to cancel plans to replace the current generation of submarines that carry the nuclear warheads.

Organizers described the rally as the largest anti-nuclear demonstration in a generation, claiming that up to 60,000 people attended. Previously the largest protest was held in 1983, against the deployment of Cruise missiles at Greenham Common.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, also addressed the crowd, saying that Trident, which is based at a naval base near Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland, was “immoral” and “impractical.”

A decision is expected to be taken later this year on replacing the ageing submarines which carry the Trident missiles at an estimated cost of 39 billion euros ($43 billion).

The British government wants to replace the four existing vessels with four so-called Successor submarines, the first of which would enter service in the early 2030s.

Prime Minister David Cameron says the renewal is vital to safeguard Britain’s security.
But the opposition Labour party is deeply divided on the issue between leftwingers like Corbyn, who want to scrap it, and some centrists who want to keep it.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter waded into the debate on Saturday, saying that Britain must renew Trident if it is to maintain its “outsized” role in world affairs.

Carter said the submarine fleet helped the “special relationship” Britain enjoyed with the United States, the BBC said on its website.

“It’s important that the military power matches that standing and so we’re very supportive of it,” he added.

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Europe

Senegal: 4th Global Peace Festival: “Live Peace – Meeting of World Cultures”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Excerpts from the email received at CPNN from Live Peace Festival International

From May Friday 06th to Sunday 08th, 2016, Saint-Louis (Senegal-West Africa) a secular land of peace and legendary Teranga (hospitality), ancient capital of French’ West Africa and Senegal, a tercentenary symbolic City listed World Heritage Site by UNESCO and successful example of harmonious and peaceful coexistence of cultures and religious, is welcoming the 4th Global Peace Festival : « Live Peace – Meeting of World Cultures ».

CODEVA
Click on image to enlarge

Organized by the non-profit organization for the « Co-operation, Development and Action » (CODEVA) to build a « bridge » between the world cultures and development and link Humans, this great celebration of Arts, Culture of Peace, Forum for Peace and Peace Camp will assemble all those who work for peace, peacemakers, artists, youth, women, volunteers, personality and world citizens coming together in one big celebration dedicated to peace and cultural diversity. The theme this year is : “Youth and Women in Sustainable Development Goal” and to our cultural heritage as a contribution to the local development of Senegal and Africa.

The “Live Peace Festival of World Cultures” is an original and very special sustainable event of solidarity and education in Saint-Louis of Senegal. It is full of symbolism, respectful of life from local to global, and the need for the emergence of a culture of non-violence, dialogue between cultures, responding to the aspiration of humanity for peace.

The three (3) days of festival includes concerts, shows, performing arts/music, dance, theater, campfire and narrated evening, forums, interactive workshop, projection of film, hiking, Global Village of Festival: fair-exhibitions, visual arts, convivial and solidarity space, zone of media center and public relations.

We warmly invite all the positive energies (youth, women, volunteers and artists) media, donors, sponsors and partners to support and participate in solidarity with this worthy cause and contribute to the success of the festival.

P.O.Box : 241- Saint-Louis, SENEGAL
Phone : + 221.77 553.85.63 / 70 658.81.43
Mail : livepeacefestival@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/livepeacefestivalinternational

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Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Canada: It’s time to let Iraq War Resisters stay!

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the War Resisters Support Campaign

Following the federal election, there is hope that there can finally be a positive and speedy resolution to the cases of U.S. Iraq War resisters. Your help is needed to make sure they are allowed to stay in Canada. Watch our new video below and then take a moment to write a letter to your MP in support of war resisters. For more information, see our backgrounder on the situation of U.S. Iraq War Resisters in Canada.

resisters

Video for campaign

Canadians voted for change and expect the new government to do the right thing and let the war resisters stay. It was the strong response of Canadians that has kept most U.S. war resisters in Canada – and out of U.S. military prison – for the past ten years.

U.S. Iraq War resisters have lived through a decade of unfair political interference in their cases by the previous Conservative government. Some were deported by the Harper government, and received harsh jail sentences in the U.S. for opposing the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq.

The new government should immediately heed the will of the majority of Canadians and stop any and all actions against U.S. war resisters, including halting the litigation against U.S. war resisters, as this litigation defends policies and decisions made by the previous Conservative government.

How you can help

1) Write a Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
Langevin Block
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2

2) Call, e-mail and write to your Member of Parliament:
To send a letter: address it to your MP, and send to House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

To find out your MP’s email and phone number, you can email info@parl.gc.ca
or call toll-free (Canada): 1 (866) 599-4999.

MP contact details will be up shortly at www.parl.gc.ca, under ‘Members of Parliament’.

Key points to mention:

• Resolve this issue swiftly as part of the change promised by the new government

• It is time to fix this issue – end over 10 years of unfair and unjust legal and political actions by the Harper government

• Stop the deportations

• Stop pursuing war resister cases in court, as doing so defends decisions and policies made by the former Conservative government

• Rescind Operational Bulletin 202

• Implement a new Operational Bulletin that restores fairness for all war resister cases and reverses the harm done

3) Donate to the War Resisters Support Campaign

4) Please join and follow us – and share us on Social Media:
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

Burundi agrees to accept African Union human rights monitors

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Deutsche Welle

Burundi has agreed to accept the deployment of 100 human rights observers and 100 military monitors as months of political violence raises concern the country could fall back into deadly civil war, the African Union said on Saturday.

Burundi
Photo of the AU delegation by Agence France Presse

The leaders of South Africa, Gabon, Mauritania, Senegal and Ethiopia have been in Burundi this week meeting with representatives of the opposition and government to prevent escalation of a crisis that has killed more than 400 people and displaced at least a quarter of a million in the past 10 months.

The AU said in a statement that “the solution to Burundi’s political problems can be attained only through inclusive and peaceful engagement.”

The African body assigned Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to act as a mediator to foster dialogue between President Pierre Nkurunziza and the opposition.

Nkurunziza had previously said he would oppose an AU mission in the country, which has been in crisis since last April when he announced a bid to run for a third term despite a constitutional two-term limit. He was elected to a third term in July in an election boycotted by the opposition.

The re-election turmoil and a failed coup attempt in May spawned a deadly wave of violence across Burundi, with the opposition and government tied to bombings, disappearances, murders and abuse.

Nkurunziza has accused neighboring Rwanda of fomenting violence and backing the opposition, charges that US officials have said carry some weight.

Earlier this week Nkurunziza met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and said he would engage in dialogue with the opposition.

(Click here for a version of this article in French.)

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Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Asia and the Middle East lead rise in arms imports; the United States and Russia remain largest arms exporters, says SIPRI

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A press release by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

The volume of international transfers of major weapons has grown continuously since 2004 and rose by 14 per cent between 2006–10 and 2011–15, according to new data on international arms transfers published today (22 February 2016) by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

SIPRI

Six of the top 10 largest arms importers in the 5-year period 2011–15 are in Asia and Oceania: India (14 per cent of global arms imports), China (4.7 per cent), Australia (3.6 per cent), Pakistan (3.3 per cent), Viet Nam (2.9 per cent) and South Korea (2.6 per cent). Viet Nam’s arms imports rose by 699 per cent. Arms imports by states in Asia and Oceania increased by 26 per cent between 2006–10 and 2011–15, with states in the region receiving 46 per cent of global imports in 2011–15.

‘China continues to expand its military capabilities with imported and domestically produced weapons,’ said Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘Neighbouring states such as India, Viet Nam and Japan are also significantly strengthening their military forces.’

Imports by Middle Eastern states on the increase

Arms imports by states in the Middle East rose by 61 per cent between 2006–10 and 
2011–15. In 2011–15 Saudi Arabia was the world’s second largest arms importer, with an increase of 275 per cent compared to 2006–10. In the same period, arms imports by the United Arab Emirates rose by 35 per cent and those by Qatar went up by 279 per cent. Egypt’s arms imports increased by 37 per cent between 2006–10 and 2011–15, primarily due to a steep rise in 2015.

‘A coalition of Arab states is putting mainly US- and European-sourced advanced arms into use in Yemen,’ said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘Despite low oil prices, large deliveries of arms to the Middle East are scheduled to continue as part of contracts signed in the past five years.’

Arms exporters: the USA remains well ahead

With a 33 per cent share of total arms exports, the USA was the top arms exporter in 
2011–15. Its exports of major weapons increased by 27 per cent compared to 2006–10.

(Article continued on the right column)

(Click here for a version of this article in French or here for a version in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

Does military spending lead to economic decline and collapse?

(Article continued from the left column)

Russian exports of major weapons increased by 28 per cent between 2006–10 and 2011–15, and Russia accounted for 25 per cent of global exports in the recent 5-year period. However, in 2014 and 2015 Russian exports returned to the lower annual levels observed in 2006–10.

Chinese exports of major arms were just above those of France in 2011–15, growing by 
88 per cent compared to 2006–10. French exports decreased by 9.8 per cent and German exports halved over the same period.

‘As regional conflicts and tensions continue to mount, the USA remains the leading global arms supplier by a significant margin,’ said Dr Aude Fleurant, Director of the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘The USA has sold or donated major arms to at least 96 states in the past five years, and the US arms industry has large outstanding export orders, including for a total of 611 F-35 combat aircraft to 9 states.’

Other notable developments

Between 2006–10 and 2011–15 imports by states in Africa increased by 19 per cent. Algeria and Morocco remained the two largest arms importers in the region with a combined total of 56 per cent of African imports.

Due to economic constraints most sub-Saharan African states imported only small volumes of arms in 2011–15, despite many being involved in armed conflicts during that period.

Mexico’s arms imports grew by 331 per cent in 2011–15 compared with 2006–10.

Azerbaijan increased its arms imports by 217 per cent between 2006–10 and 
2011–15.

Arms imports by Iraq rose by 83 per cent between 2006–10 and 2011–15.

France concluded several major arms export contracts in 2015, including the first two firm contracts for its Rafale combat aircraft.

Imports by states in Europe decreased by 41 per cent between 2006–10 and 
2011–15.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

USA: ​United Methodist Kairos Response Welcomes Pension Fund Exclusion and Divestment of Israeli Banks

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY .

Press release by Kairos Response

UM Kairos Response is pleased to announce that the $20-billion Pension and Health Benefits Fund of the United Methodist Church has declared the five largest Israeli banks off limits for investment and has divested from the two that it held in its portfolios. This is the first time a major church pension fund has acted to preclude investment in Israeli banks that sustain Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

Kairos

The information has been posted on the Pension Fund’s website under Evaluating companies in our investment funds that pose excessive human rights risks. The banks are Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank, and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. These banks are deeply involved in financing illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi were removed from the portfolios. The fund manager, known as Wespath, also divested from Shikun & Binui, an Israeli company involved with construction in the illegal settlements beyond Israel’s recognized borders. In addition, Wespath has placed Israel/Palestine on a list of regions where human rights violations occur.

UMKR is pleased to learn of these actions, while noting that Wespath still holds stock in ten companies located inside the illegal settlements and in several others that lend important support to Israel’s occupation. A list of those companies is available on the UMKR website.

According to UMKR Co-chair Rev. Michael Yoshii, “We commend the pension fund for taking this significant step in disassociating from the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. But as United Methodist policy opposes the occupation, this is only a first step towards ending our financial complicity in the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.”

Rev. John Wagner, a member of the UMKR Divestment Committee, added, “Since the church’s policy-making body, the General Conference, has called on all nations to boycott products produced in the illegal settlements, we urge our fund managers to maintain consistency and divest from all companies that profit from these same settlements.”

UMKR has submitted four proposals to the next General Conference, which will meet May 10-20 in Portland, Oregon. Three would require divesting from companies involved with the occupation and one would establish a screen to preclude investments in companies doing business in illegal settlements anywhere in the world.

United Methodist Kairos Response is a global grassroots group within the United Methodist Church seeking to respond to the urgent call of Palestinian Christians for actions that can end the Israeli occupation of their land. For more information, visit www.kairosresponse.org.

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

Join the Palestine Museum of Natural History: Why doing so is so important

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

From the website of the Palestine Museum of Natural History

You are invited to join Global Friends of Bethlehem University (BU) Palestine Museum of Natural History (PMNH) and Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS). We are excited to announce this 2016 initiative so fill out this form http://goo.gl/forms/Z7nmOGFC9i (if you have difficulty email us at info@palestinenature.org) to tell us your location and a bit on your background so that we can connect you with other friends of BU-PMNH/PIBS in your country. We will send you more information about HOW YOU can become part of such a global network.

For now let us explain WHY doing so is important.

Mazin-3
Frame from video about museum

PMNH/PIBS team members and volunteers work locally and globally to protect our environment, educate people around the world on environmental threats in Palestine (such as effect of apartheid wall, industrial and other Israeli colonial activities), and implement programs of environmental and agricultural sustainability on the ground especially in marginalized Palestinian areas. With limited resources and time, we have already achieved much:

– Published many research papers on areas from environmental health to biodiversity

– Held over 20 workshops on areas ranging from permaculture to cancer

– Over 1000 students visited us either in the science festival programs held at the museum or outside

– We developed our museum and its botanical garden in terms of infrastructure, human resource, and volunteers. This includes a wetland ecosystem, an aviary, a green house, three aquaponic systems, beginnings of an exhibit hall, a local tree garden, and more.

– Implemented projects of recycling, up-cycling, composting, green walls, and other permaculture projects.

– Developed projects for transfer of technology in our experimental garden to farmers and potential farmers.

– Undertook outreach and partnerships with hundreds of local, regional, and global entities (governments, schools, universities, NGOs, etc.) and had several hundred internationals visit the museum grounds (Prof. Qumsiyeh also traveled to five countries promoting the museum work and discussing potential collaborations during invited speaking tours). Several join projects are already underway as a result.

The museum (palestinenature.org) and its botanical garden are also important in providing young people with options, directions, and a new way of looking at themselves and their environment (empowerment and nature conservation). We now have an integrated system for research and education to address areas in need in Palestine: healthcare, environment, and agriculture (especially permaculture). We have dozens of volunteers but we can accelerate our progress with YOUR help and accomplish much more. So fill out this form http://goo.gl/forms/Z7nmOGFC9i (if you have difficulty email us at info@palestinenature.org) to tell us you can help from your location (any and all countries including Palestine). Tentative name is “Network for Palestine Nature” (your suggestions on name would be appreciated).

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

Obama’s speech on gun control: the ‘fierce urgency of now.’

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Some excerpts from President Obama’s speech on gun safety reform

“In Dr. King’s words, we need to feel the ‘fierce urgency of now.’ Because people are dying. And the constant excuses for inaction no longer do, no longer suffice. That’s why we’re here today. Not to debate the last mass shooting, but to do something to try to prevent the next one.”


Obama
Photo from Video of Obama speech

“How did we get here? How did we get to the place where people think requiring a comprehensive background check means taking away people’s guns? Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that commonsense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying. I reject that thinking.”

“So let me outline what we’re going to be doing. Number one, anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks, or be subject to criminal prosecutions … We’re also expanding background checks to cover violent criminals who try to buy some of the most dangerous firearms by hiding behind trusts and corporations and various cutouts … And these steps will actually lead to a smoother process for law-abiding gun owners, a smoother process for responsible gun dealers, a stronger process for protecting the public from dangerous people.”

“All of us should be able to work together to find a balance that declares the rest of our rights are also important — Second Amendment rights are important, but there are other rights that we care about as well. And we have to be able to balance them. Because our right to worship freely and safely — that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina. And that was denied Jews in Kansas City. And that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too.

Our right to peaceful assembly — that right was robbed from moviegoers in Aurora and Lafayette. Our unalienable right to life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. First-graders. And from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun.”

Question for this article:

Will Obama’s initiative help reduce gun violence?

See below for comment form.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America