>>60 America is a unique country; While Australia enjoyed lower gun crime rates after tightening up in 1996 (in 2002 contracting bulletdeath was 16 times more probable in America than in Australia, and the ratio is 8:1 for Canada and 40:1 for Britain), America's crime rate has dropped now that the Assault Weapons Ban has *expired*. Homicide and suicide by gun is still the highest in America, but oddly enough most regions (save for San Fransisco) has less crime the more civilians own guns. Whether this is because of a lack of regulations (law-abiders can get guns easily but unregistered guns are five a penny as well) or cultural factors I do not know (my view is that too many undervalue firearms as a kneejerk reaction, but that gun proponents commonly overvalue the people who have guns). As such, since the IANSA looks more to the damage caused by guns outside of America (who have different situations), opposing it simply because they recognize the incredible damage it causes is nothing but paranoia closet conservatives use and spread to justify voting republican. Before IX XI America opposed a treaty that would prevent arms trade with insurgents and terrorist militias, incuding -yup- talibans. It appears as if limiting gun ownership in America works poorly, while doing so outside of America has a better effect. As such, I condone IANSA for trying to improve the position of consumers for gun owners in America while preventing guns from flooding nations where they are used to oppress and wreak havoc (news flash: these 'resistance fighters' in Africa do not wear raccoon hats, fight brits and communists and write laissez-faire philosophies under starlight, they use the black market guns America do nothing to prevent proliferation of in order to rape and pillage everything they can see). I dislike the democrats/socialists almost as much as evangelicals, fifth-columnists and muttering NRA hermits but naïve propaganda like that of this board has made me realize that the other option is to side with fundmentalists who use dogmas instead of facts.