Archive for October, 2011

Taiwan gun group joins global fight to bear arms

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

TAIPEI TIMES:  Taiwan gun group joins global fight to bear arms

(Click above link to read the story from the Taipei Times)

The Taiwan Defensive Firearms Association (TDFA) earlier this month became a member of the International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR), a global gun rights association working to protect and expand the ability to keep and bear arms around the globe.

In a press release, IAPCAR said the TDFA was joining 16 other groups from nine countries on five continents that represent millions of firearm owners and citizens concerned about civilian gun rights.

“The IAPCAR coalition defending gun rights worldwide continues to grow and we are proud to have Taiwan join with us,” IAPCAR executive director Philip Watson is quoted as saying.

“The Taiwan Defensive Firearms Association is an important addition in our battle to protect the human right of self-defense,” Watson said.

The TDFA is reported to be Taiwan’s highest profile gun advocacy association, which according to its Web site opened its office in Taipei in May last year, with Boris Yang acting as chairman.

Its Web site states that it is a group of gun policy researchers who wish to allow qualified Taiwanese to legally bear firearms to “provide them with the ability to refuse to be a victim and to make most of Taiwanese middle class become a steady power of the social order.”

The organization says that while police and the judicial system are the first line of defense, law-abiding citizens bearing arms constitute the second line.

The group says authorities tend to embellish statistics about serious crime offenses and “unscrupulous” and “corrupt” officials often allow serious offenders to get away unpunished.

“When the time is right, we wish to apply the method of referendum to change this defenseless civilian situation that has last [sic] for decades […] To let Taiwanese qualified citizens to have the option to freely own semi-automatic defensive firearms,” it says.

The TDFA’s goal is to see 35 percent of the Taiwanese population, or 8 million people, own a gun and 25 percent of the population, or 5 million people, obtain a license to carry concealed firearms.

As an umbrella organization, IAPCAR opposes any UN Arms Trade Treaty that infringes on national sovereignty and an individual’s ability to keep arms and serves as a vehicle to unify gun advocacy groups against “international threats to the human right of self-defense and the legitimate use of guns” against “grave threats” including crime, civil unrest and terrorism.

According to IAPCAR’s Web site, it has more than 650,000 members and supporters in the US.

TAIWAN GUN RIGHTS GROUP JOINS IAPCAR

Friday, October 21st, 2011

FOR IMMEDEATE RELEASE:  10/21/2011

BELLEVUE, WA – The International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR) has added the Taiwan Defensive Firearms Association (TDFA) as a member of international gun rights associations working to protect and expand the right to keep and bear arms around the globe. TDFA joins 16 other groups from nine countries on five different continents that represent millions of firearm owners and citizens concerned about civilian arms rights.

“The IAPCAR coalition defending gun rights worldwide continues to grow and we are proud to have Taiwan join with us,” said IAPCAR executive director, Philip Watson.

“The Taiwan Defensive Firearms Association is an important addition in our battle to protect the human right of self-defense,” Watson observed.

“It is a great honor to become one of IAPCAR’s members.” said, Boris Yang, TDFA Chairman.

As Taiwan’s highest profile self-defense advocacy association, TDFA also runs the popular website, (http://www.tdfa.tw).

Julianne Versnel, director of operations for the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Alan Gottlieb, Chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) established IAPCAR to serve as a vehicle to unify arms rights groups against international threats to the human right of self-defense and the legitimate use of guns.

“IAPCAR strongly opposes any U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that infringes on national sovereignty and the individual right to keep arms,” said SAF’s Versnel.

CCRKBA’s Gottlieb added, “Organizations around the globe feel the urgent need to protect the individual right to defend oneself and one’s family against grave threats, including crime, civil unrest and terrorism. IAPCAR is dedicated to preserving this human right.”

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations.  As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.  The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org

Taiwan Defensive Firearms Association

Friday, October 21st, 2011

U.S. REP TO U.N. SAYS OBAMA WANTS SENATE TO RATIFY ARMS TREATY

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

BELLEVUE, WA – The Obama administration “is seeking advice and consent” for Senate ratification of an international small arms treaty, and also supports the inclusion of small arms in the UN Register of Conventional Arms, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms learned today.

The disclosure is found in the text of a statement to the First Committee of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, delivered by Laura E. Kennedy, the permanent United States representative to the Conference on Disarmament. CCRKBA obtained a copy of the statement.

In her statement, Kennedy recalls that the United States in 1997, under the Clinton administration, signed the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials. However, the Senate never ratified the document, and there was no interest in pushing the treaty during the Bush administration. American firearms rights activists have steadfastly fought against inclusion of small arms in any such treaty.

“More than half the members of the Senate have already advised Barack Obama that they will not ratify any treaty that threatens the Second Amendment rights of American citizens,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “so it’s not clear why he is – according to Kennedy’s revealing statement – suddenly seeking Senate ratification of this measure.

“If the Obama administration is this eager to push adoption of a treaty that’s been gathering dust for eleven years,” he added, “one can only imagine how fast this president will want to see action on the proposed global Arms Trade Treaty.

“This suggests that Obama fears he may be a one-term president,” Gottlieb stated, “and he feels a compelling need to finally bring his anti-gun agenda to the surface and push it through. We have known all along about his desire to bind this country to an international gun control scheme, and now Kennedy’s statement confirms that.”

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations.  As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.  The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org

INDIAN GUN RIGHTS GROUP JOINS IAPCAR

Monday, October 10th, 2011

INDIAN GUN RIGHTS GROUP JOINS IAPCAR

FOR IMMEDEATE RELEASE:  10/10/2011

BELLEVUE, WA – The International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR) has added the National Association for Gun Rights India (NAGRI) as a member of international gun rights association working to protect and expand the right to keep and bear arms around the globe. NAGRI joins 15 other groups from eight countries on five different continents that represent millions of firearm owners and citizens concerned about civilian arms rights.

“It is heartening to see groups like NAGRI who are passionate and active for civilian arms rights joining our coalition,” said IAPCAR executive director, Philip Watson.

“In the wake of the tragic Mumbai massacre, Indians are rethinking their country’s repressive gun restrictions and see the need to empower citizens. Self-defense is a civil right; the denial of this right should not be tolerated,” Watson observed.

“NAGRI is delighted to be associated with IAPCAR. All pro-gun associations and civil rights organizations should join hands,” said Rakshit Sharma, a representative of NAGRI.

As India’s highest profile gun rights advocacy association, NAGRI also runs the popular online forum, Indians for Guns (http://indiansforguns.com).

Julianne Versnel, director of operations for the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Alan Gottlieb, Chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) established IAPCAR to serve as a vehicle to unify arms rights groups against international threats to the human right of self-defense and the legitimate use of guns.

“IAPCAR strongly opposes any U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that infringes on national sovereignty and the individual right to keep arms,” said SAF’s Versnel.

CCRKBA’s Gottlieb added, “Events over the past decade have emphasized the urgent need to protect the individual right to defend oneself and one’s family against grave threats, including crime, civil unrest and terrorism. IAPCAR is dedicated to preserving this human right.”

-END-