United Nations Conference

on the Illicit trade in Small Arms and

Light Weapons in All Its Aspects

New York, July 16, 2001

Statement of the

National Rifle Association of America

Mr. President:

I speak to you today on behalf of the four and a half million members of
the National Rifle Association of America.

We view efforts to curtail the illicit trade in U.S. defined Small
Arms and Light Weapons as legitimate but would be totally remiss not to
express the extreme concern of our membership over potential outcomes of
this conference.

Throughout the preparatory phase prior of this conference and last week much has been said and proposed.  In reference to our concern, the legitimate domestic rights of U.S. citizens to own and use firearms, we have received conflicting signals from significant participants.  Some assure us that the end result will have no impact on lawful civilian ownership, others
propose that it could, should, must and will.

We cannot ignore aspects of the Program of Action that could affect
civilian firearms ownership in the U.S. and in fact, worldwide.

Mr. President, we would ask the conference to acknowledge our concerns
as legitimate.

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