In the days since the shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the National Rifle Association hasn’t engaged with the debates about gun control. But the organization has been busy elsewhere: at the UN. The United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty has been going on all this month in New York City, and ends tomorrow.
The conference is an attempt to set common standards for the international sale of weapons, including “small arms" such as hand guns and assault rifles. Dave Weigel writes about American conservatism for Slate, and is a contributor to MSNBC. He’s also covered the NRA efforts at the UN for Foreign Policy Magazine.
President Obama Seeks to Narrow 'War on Terror,' A Closer Look at the IRS Inquiry, Boy Scouts to Allow Gay Members
The DSM and Mental Health in America
Lessons From a Female Union Electrician
Defining Normal After a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia, The Mayor of Oklahoma City, A New Kind of Commencement Speech
Diplomatic Damage Caused by Drone Strikes, In Defense of the DSM-5, Bob Woodruff's Advice for New Grads
The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.
Major funding provided by:
Comments [6]
@Charles,
You must never listen to NPR. They never refer to the NRA as an extremist organization. NPRtries to
present as many sides to a story as possible. That is why NPR is considered one of the standards for fairness in American broadcast journalism.
Personally, I like it for that reason and because they don't run sets of ads every few minutes, leaving more time per story. You would have enjoyed the piece they ran today on the Warren Zevon song, Werewolves Of London.
Dave Kopel, Adjunct Professor of Law at Denver University's Sturm College of Law, on the history of moderate gun law reforms FAVORED by the NRA, most particularly in Colorado in the wake of the Columbine shootings:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/312322/colorado-consensus-gun-laws-dave-kopel?pg=1
Just because public radio programs almost constantly repeat the mantra that the NRA is an extremist organization, doesn't make it so. Better reporters might have figured that out.
The ATT is an attempt to stop the flow of arms to government's like Syria, to stop ammunition from reaching the hands of insurgents in Afghanistan who use those bullets to kill US servicemen. From what I have heard from the sessions, there are really two kinds of anti-Arms Trade Treaty opinions. That of those who stand to profit from an unregulated arms trade (the major exporting/brokering countries along with those looking to bolster their military on the cheap. ) And then there is the NRA who acts like the world would be sunshine and daisies if nobody even thought about regulation and if there is any regulation, the rest of history will read like a George Orwell novel.
I could get bogged down in the details of why a strong treaty (stronger regulations on the sales of bananas than weapons, 1500-2000 deaths per day from armed violence, etc) but really I want to ask, what happened to the NRA?
What happened to the NRA which backed the National Firearms Act of 1934?
Or the NRA which fought to ban mail order rifles in the 1960's?
Better yet what is the good of an organization who says flatly 'no' to any dialogue or compromise even if it stands to strengthen their cause in the long term and protect innocent lives across the world?
Two days at The Takeaway; two discussions of gun laws.
Day One featured liberal journalist and gun law critic John Cassidy, a writer for the New Yorker.
Day Two featured liberal journalist and gun law critic Dave Weigel, a contributor to MSNBC.
Does anybody suppose that in the future, The Takeaway will feature, on two consecutive days, two forceful proponents of tradtional American gun rights under the Second Amendment of the Constitution?
It is an old joke, but painfully true in the case of The Takeaway's producers: You know how they count to ten? One, Three, Four, Five...
Is the international Fast & Furious scandal a matter of the United Nations?
Could the Tiananmen Square massacre have occurred with an armed populace? If all the citizens of Syria owned assault weapons would their government be behaving this way?
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.