Postmedia: Gun control groups slam Canada’s stance at UN arms talks

As Jeff Davis of Postmedia News reports, Canada has submitted some key changes to an international arms treaty currently being debated at the United Nations:

Preliminary talks on a future Arms Trade Treaty are being held this week at the United Nations in New York. The treaty would establish common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, and likely establish a reporting framework as well.
Thursday Canadian diplomats proposed that hunting rifles and other sporting arms be omitted from the draft accord.
“Canada would like to see language in the ‘Principles’ section that explicitly recognizes that there is a legal trade in small arms for legitimate civilian uses, including for sporting, hunting and collecting purposes,” read the speech.
Canada proposed the following clause be added into the draft accord: “Reaffirming that small arms have certain legitimate civilian uses, including sporting, hunting and collecting purposes.”
Canada also proposed that ammunition and other “high volume items” be exempted from reporting requirements.

I was interviewed for this piece and am quoted at the end:

Solomon Friedman, an Ottawa-based lawyer specializing in firearms law, said his fellow firearms owners should be pleased with the government’s push to protect their rights on the world stage.
“Gun owners will certainly be happy they are not being penalized for the actions of gun traffickers and rogue states, and that they’re not being lumped in,” he said.
Friedman said gun owners are pleased with the Harper government’s position on guns, particularly its plan to repeal the long-gun registry.
“What we’re seeing here is a shift in attitude by Canada’s government to recognize the legitimate use of firearms by millions of Canadians,” he said. “The government of Canada no longer seems to be treating law abiding firearms owners as presumptive criminals.”