The world needs a strong Arms Trade Treaty!

• Each year 8 million new small arms are produced?
• Each year 12 billion rounds of ammunition are produced?
•  (….that’s close to 2 bullets for every baby, every woman, every man).
• United Nations Peacekeeping costs the world $7 billion per year?
• The global annual burden of armed violence stands at $400 billion?
• The only purpose of these things is to cause death or injury?
• There is stricter global trade regulation of bananas than there is in the trade of A K-47s?

Do you know how many classrooms, how many clinics, how many wells or pipes to bring clean water into people’s lives could be bought by that $12 billion?

We need, the world needs a strong Arms Trade Treaty. And the governments of the world are negotiating such an enforceable treaty throughout the month of July.

As the governments met for the first days in the UN, across the street we met as representatives of many interfaith groups in the Chapel at the building called “Church Center” – to pray and petition that common sense will win. We stood and faced the UN building across First Avenue and together spoke aloud the Interfaith Declaration in Support of an Arms Trade Treaty. A beautiful young woman danced our hopes into a shared prayer. A Veteran reminded us of the stupidity and danger of weapons of violence.

Please pray that we will finally have such a Treaty, so that bananas are no longer considered more dangerous than guns!

- Kevin Dance C.P.

Read the Interfaith Declaration.