“Check this out … is this legit?” an email received over the weekend asked. The question was wholly appropriate, revealing a correspondent on his toes and interested in due diligence.
Attached was a genuine-looking document on apparent United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs letterhead, replete with bar and QR codes (the latter being too blurry in the jpg to read), lending it an air of authenticity (see photo accompanying this article). Titled “Disarmament Commission — Civilian Weapons Confiscation Study Group, New York, 29 -31 July 2013,” the August 5-dated document says its distribution is “restricted,” and proceeds to outline a seven-stage strategy for making civilian possession of “military grade weapons” illegal, progressing down to outlawing all firearms and ammunition, and ultimately establishing “a United Nations Police Taskforce with the specific mission of assisting member nations with the collection of weapons from civilian hands.” Continue reading “Purported U.N. disarmament document long on hysteria, short on provability”