U.S. Takes Hard Stance at Small-Arms Meeting
The United States warned a U.N. meeting on small-arms trafficking that it is prepared to do battle to defend the rights of arms makers and legal gun owners--even when the guns they want to own are specifically designed for war.
John R. Bolton, undersecretary of State for arms control, fired off the warning on the opening day of a conference aimed at clamping down on the $1-billion global small-arms trade, which the U.N. blames for half a million deaths a year.
Bolton said the U.S. cannot accept numerous provisions of a draft action plan due to be adopted July 20, the conference’s final day. In doing so, he drove a wedge between Washington and its European Union allies and aligned with Russia, China and India, analysts said.
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