Pubdate: Sun, 19 Apr 2009
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Lena Sin

U.S. STANCE ON GUN SMUGGLING COULD AFFECT B.C.

Wants Senate To Ratify Arms Treaty

U.S. President Barack Obama's push to crack down on weapons smuggling 
is an encouraging move that could help B.C.'s war on drugs, according 
to a B.C. political science professor.

But others aren't so sure and say Obama's announcement is nothing 
more than "smoke and mirrors."

Last week, Obama backed Mexico's war on its violent drug cartels, 
calling for a crackdown on weapons trafficking and admitting shared 
responsibility.

Obama said in Mexico Thursday he would ask the U.S. Senate to ratify 
a long-stalled regional arms-trafficking treaty following Mexican 
requests to stem the flow of U.S. guns to its drug cartels. The 1997 
arms treaty requires countries to take a number of steps to reduce 
the illegal manufacture and trade in guns, ammunition and explosives.

The treaty also calls for countries to adopt strict licensing 
requirements, mark firearms to make them easier to trace and 
establish information-sharing processes between national 
law-enforcement agencies investigating arms smuggling.

Canada and 32 other nations have already signed the 12-year-old treaty.

The U.S. is one of four countries yet to ratify the convention, 
formally known as the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit 
Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives 
and other Related Items.

"I'm very encouraged by this development because it signals a U.S. 
administration that's willing to stand up to the gun lobby," said 
Michael Byers, a University of B.C. political science professor.

"The resistance to any restrictions [on gun control] has impeded the 
kind of co-operation we need. We've had a focus on stopping drugs 
from moving across the border but we haven't addressed in any 
substantial way the counter-flow of guns. And obviously, people do 
not kill people with marijuana. They kill them with guns."

But Gary Mauser, a Simon Fraser University professor emeritus who has 
studied the issue of gun control, says even if the U.S. Senate 
ratifies the treaty, "it won't change anything on the ground."

"There's a large number of rules and regulations regarding firearms," 
says Mauser.

"But criminals have no interest in following those rules and there 
are people who will violate those laws to sell them to [criminals] 
because it's big business."

Mauser says change will only be made if the U.S. and Canada commit 
significant resources to anti-smuggling investigations.

B.C.'s alarming increase in shootings in public places -- most often 
by gang members involved in the drug trade -- has become a pressing 
safety concern in recent years.

And the gun violence can be partly attributed to the greater access 
to illegal guns that are either sourced locally or smuggled in from 
the U.S., according to the report titled The Illegal Movement of 
Firearms in B.C.

The report, commissioned by the provincial government and released in 
February, also said B.C. police don't have enough resources to 
conduct major investigations on gun trafficking.

In response, the B.C. government announced in February it will 
establish a new weapons enforcement unit to investigate crimes 
involving illegal guns.
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