I just had to celebrate a little today because the “good guys” won another one. The ATT (Arms Trade Treaty) was passed recently by the UN and it takes effect on December 24, 2014. This may not seem important to you but it’s VERY important to millions of people.
We (The Forerunner Project) became interested about 5 years ago in the movement to control trafficking and the dumping (below market value) of firearms into second and third world countries by large arms manufacturers. We produced three interviews on the topic for the “This Is Wisdom Radio Program” (see the link below).
We first interviewed the people at Project Ploughshares in Waterloo, Canada who were engaged in policy development in the ATT fight. Then we quite accidentally met filmmakers Erika Bagnarello and Mario Araya in Costa Rica and subsequently showed their film (funded by the Oscar Arias Foundation) at our film festivals in Esterillos Oeste and Atenas C.R. (links for the interviews are below). The film graphically documented the problems associated with the flood of guns into Central and South America.
The problem: buying a handgun in some Latin American countries is easier than buying a jug of milk. The collateral damage of the lack of gun policy in Latin America is a culture of murder and violence and thousands of unnecessary deaths.
In a world where every single product has a policy for importation and exportation, it was astounding to learn that ONLY guns were completely unregulated and that the US and European weapons manufacturers had lobbied strongly to avoid any type of controls or restrictions. Today that has changed…..and today the world is a better place. You can shout, dance, or just say thank you in a silent prayer to God and to the people who have fought for more than a decade to see this happen. It feels good to win this one.
Hear the interviews here:
Project Ploughshares: http://wisdom-radio.com/blog/?p=659
Guns and Gangs film by Erica Bagnarello: http://wisdom-radio.com/blog/?p=510
Transformation and the Power of Film – Mario Araya http://wisdom-radio.com/blog/?p=523
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