“If the US can’t fix its gun policy, maybe an international lawsuit can,” attorney and Global Action on Gun Violence (GAGV) President Jonathan Lowy declares in an opinion piece in The Boston Globe. “Lax US gun policy has caused an international public health and safety crisis, and blatantly violates human rights laws.”
Lowy, former Chief Counsel and VP Legal for Brady, “filed papers … under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to provide legal and consulting services to the government of Mexico and plans to work with other nations on similar efforts,” Time reported in 2022. “Lowy has already worked with the government of Mexico and lawyers in Canada to file three lawsuits against U.S. gunmakers in the last four years.” (The Mexican government argued that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) does not extend to damages caused in Mexican territory and tiled an appeal after its $10B complaint was dismissed in a Boston federal court last year).
“Joaquin Oliver v USA was filed in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an independent legal body of the Organization of American States,” New York advertising agency Zulu Alpha Kilo announced in September. “The lawsuit argues that Inter-American human rights law requires the United States to prevent firearms manufacturers, distributors, and dealers from recklessly making and selling guns in ways that cause deaths and injuries.
“The US, like other nations, is obligated to protect the exercise of these human rights; a State cannot simply tolerate its people to be systematically and repeatedly deprived of their lives,” the publicity release elaborated. “The suit explains that US gun policies and the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment decisions are inconsistent with the human right to live that the US is required to respect, and enable the gun industry to profit from crime throughout the region.”
The ones truly profiting, of course, are corrupt Mexican officials and their cartel patrons, who aren’t getting actual military equipment and grenades from U.S. gun shops and onesie-twosie “straw purchasers.”
That Lowy’s shakedown effort is being managed by professional ad agency spin doctors says much in terms of Astroturf vs. grassroots. Gun owners have seen before the misinformation that results from high production value “PSAs” representing themselves as reliable documentation instead of what they really are – scripted commercials engineered to get the viewers to “buy” something. So where’s the money coming from?
At this point, it’s not that obvious. A Who.Is registrar search shows the GAGV domain hidden behind a proxy, and its IRS ruling is so new that no tax documents are posted yet on the Guidestar nonprofit reporting website. It is shown there to be a Washington D.C. entity, and a business filings search at DC.gov CorpOnline shows Lowy operating at the same address as the Violence Policy Center. They’re the ones who advocate exploiting public ignorance to gin up mob demands for gun bans:
“The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.”
So much for Lowy and his new lawfare group. What about Manuel Oliver, the plaintiff?
He and his wife had their child Joaquin brutally taken from them. Those of us with children who have not suffered such a soul-eviscerating loss can only imagine the terror and agony they have had to endure and will be forced to live with every day for the rest of their lives. With that in mind, all people of good conscience will naturally feel sympathy and would offer comfort if we could. And with that acknowledged, our sympathy does not give sufferers leave to lay claim to our rights, especially when doing so serves the interests of violence monopolists and power interests obsessed with disarming their countrymen.
We’ve heard their arguments and we reject them. The Parkland monster, who passed a much-ballyhooed “background check,” was nonetheless known to authorities and exploited an ostensible “gun-free” zone “defended” by a school resource officer who sheltered himself outside the building while his young charges were being slaughtered.
They’ve heard our arguments and rejected them. Our solutions are mutually exclusive. We can’t all get along.
“If the US can’t fix its gun policy, maybe an international lawsuit can. It’s time to change the game!” Oliver repeated Lowy’s assertion. And we can see from other posts in his account some of the “gun policies” he means to “fix.”
He’s against allowing Lake City ammunition to be sold to the civilian market. He spreads the meme that the NRA and the GOP (and their tens of millions of policy supporters) are devils. He calls Gov. Ron De Santis (and by default his supporters) “political rats.” We could go on all day.
It’s existential with this guy. He wants it all. He won’t take “No.” And there can be only one.
He understands that and fights that way. He was arrested for disrupting a House meeting, but got handled with kid gloves and only issued a citation. Those of us who aren’t useful to Democrats can see what “obstruction of an official proceeding” and conspiracy charges can result in when the government wants to press charges.
And as long as there can be no peace between our people, note he’s a Venezuelan immigrant (making great money in speaking fees here) who opted to leave a corrupt Marx-inspired tyranny and mandate the same “gun control” edicts on his adoptive home as are imposed in the land he fled.
Sorry, but this is where sympathy gets replaced with resolve. When you take it out on me and mine by going after what is ours and not yours, you invite being repelled as certainly as any other criminal, tyrant wannabe, or political swindler. Hands off the Second Amendment!
The same goes for the OAS and its Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, both of which have no authority, legal, moral, or otherwise, to impose their diktats and override “the supreme Law of the Land.”
Like the UN, they presuppose rights come from the government, as opposed to being preexisting. Their “American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man,” with “rights” others are forced to provide, and “duties” (“to obey the law, to serve the community and the nation, to pay taxes”), whether just or not, is a blueprint for codifying “legal” slavery.
It could be argued that the OAS hand in opening the Darien Region in Panama (now being overrun by hordes from its member states on their way to the U.S.) ensures continued lawlessness and human rights violations, and the continued unchecked invasion and attack on U.S. sovereignty guarantees that when it comes to armed violence, we — and they — ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
They want to play hardball, let’s.
Per the Congressional Research Service, “The United States hosts the OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, and is the largest financial contributor to the organization, providing an estimated $53.2 million in FY2023… The 118th Congress is now considering the Biden Administration’s FY2024 budget request, which includes $42.6 million for the U.S. assessed contribution to the OAS and $8.0 million in voluntary contributions for OAS-managed democracy promotion and economic development programs in the hemisphere.”
Per the Constitution, “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives,” and the House is now under the nominal control of the Republicans, who largely owe their majority to their gun owner constituents.
There’s room for pressure there. Demand they apply it.
The Lawsuit for Survival video follows, asking the non sequitur question “Does someone else’s ‘right’ to a gun outweigh your right to live?” Note on YouTube it says “Comments have been turned off.”
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
Shall not be infringed. These Communists can shove it.
you can bet he voted for chavez
“The US, like other nations, is obligated to protect the exercise of these human rights; a State cannot simply tolerate its people to be systematically and repeatedly deprived of their lives,” the publicity release elaborated. “The suit explains that US gun policies and the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment decisions are inconsistent with the human right to live that the US is required to respect, and enable the gun industry to profit from crime throughout the region.” well then, why don’t you start with the central and south American countries like mexico, venezuela, chile, guatemala before you come here and want… Read more »
TOur gverment are responsible to protect and defend OUR RIGHTS as written down (enumerated s a good word) on that piece of papwr to which we all agree (also known as our Constitution) If YOU don’t like any part of what’s on that list, go somewhere that has a list you prefer, perhaps Venezuela, Londonistan, Gaza) or better yet, read the list before you come here and if you don’t like it just don’t come. That marine who took a wrng turj some years back and ended up in Tiuana in prison was not allowed to demand his rughts guaranteeed… Read more »
Freedom is a scary thing, to a fearful person.
I’ve been told by people in a position to know that there’s no shortage of people living in today’s Russia that are nostalgic for the old days in the USSR because less freedom means less responsibility.
Let’s just send ’em back to Venezuela.
this pos needs sent or deported to where ever the gun laws suit his wants. get gone pos
Always remember this……….. If 6 Million Jews, 20 Million French and 15 Million Polish, had had “assault weapons” in 1938, there never would have been a WW2.
Yes, when tanks and trucks run out of gas or there is no feed for the horses and mules, the invasion halts.
No, tanks are worthless sans fuel and the tankers are hungry but all the supply vehicles are “well ventilated” by very welled armed citizens who occupy the surrounding area.
Just saying.
Good grief, they’ll let anybody in this country! It’s bad enough we have home grown CRBs(Commie Rat Bastards) without having to import them. But then again I suppose we shouldn’t expect any better considering the politicians we have. It makes a body wonder if perhaps he worked with the Commies in his country to disarm the people.
Oliver has to tell the public how he can guarantee that these sheep who claim that they have the right not to be shot will be delivered. What will he do to guarantee this? Does he have a magic wand?
I would prefer to have the right to defend myself, taking personal responsibility rather than live in his Marxist fantasy land that doesn’t exist in reality. There’s a term called in the mental health field: “affective realism.” Affective Realism is when one’s’ emotions create an illusory reality. No thanks. Not interested.
Thanks, I have never heard the term “affective realism” previously. A perfect description of every single leftist. Add that to the mass formation psychosis they also suffer from, I’m not sure what the cure may be?
I have an idea for the cure, and it has 0% recidivism and it doesn’t take months of therapy. Oliver needs treatment.
And the “cure” costs less than a dollar!
“international law” has NOTHING to do with the internal law and workings of ANYTHING within the borders of ANY American soil! WE THE PEOPLE REJECT ANY and ALL international so-called rules, regulations or “laws”!!
This clown and his corrupt client lack standing. Toss the lawsuit WITH PREJUDICE.
Criminal misuse of firearms in the US results in about 12,000 deaths in this country each year (criminal misuse excludes suicides, self-defense, and “accidental” uses) that is a lot, but far lower a toll than automobile deaths each year. It is also well documented that #1, tonnes of fentanyl cross our open southern border into the US from Mexico, and #2, illegal misuse of fantanyl in the US now results in over 100,000 deaths each year within our borders. We have no known accurate records of how many deaths occur in Mexico arising frm criminal misuse of firearms originaing in… Read more »
To state it basically: YOUR FREEDOMS END — WHEN YOU BEGIN TO INFRINGE UPON MY FREEDOMS!!! Also vice-versa! This is when COMMON LAW SYSTEM comes into play. Unlike the “muslem sharia law system” or the “oceanic maritime law system” the DemoKKKratic national COMMUNIST committee is attempting to use!
Well it’s not an American agenda to disarm citizens – it is a global agenda.
They just have an easier time elsewhere where there are no constitutional protections.
Global powers are desperate to overcome the US Second Amendment . . . and the democrat party is doing everything they can to help them achieve it.
Senor Ollie can eff the eff off and I would invite him to perform an anatomically impossible act upon himself, if I had a mind. My actual right outweighs his fantasy right. I bet he has a secret Hugo Chavez shrine in his house and maybe a prayer rug, or two.
His revolver has the same safety on it as my cordless drill has.
Interesting picture. Oliver appears to be carrying a model of the big statue of a revolver with it’s barrel tied in a knot that is at the U.N. building. Younger gun rights activists can be forgiven for not recognizing this. When there are pictures of the U.N. building, it is extremely rare that they show this symbol of worldwide disarmament promoting gun control for the entire planet.
It is truly ironic that this statue, building and all representatives are protected by men with full auto weapons. Thank you , David and Nelson Rockefeller !
Let these idiots pass all of the stupid anti-gun laws they want to, because we have the TRUTH on OUR side! The truth is that NO man or woman has an actual obligation to participate in the 100% corrupted legal system, anymore than we are obligated to go into a casino and make bets that we do not want to make! We possess the right to just say NO, that we don’t want to make any bets with our life, liberty or property being at risk of loss!! But the legal system is far worse than any casino in the… Read more »
Agree with some of your points, except that the Roe decision was wrong. Even RGB admitted it was a bad decision but made for a so-called “greater good.” It should be a states’ rights issue, which it is now. In contrast, the Second Amendment is not a states’ rights issue. It is a civil right with guarantees (maybe hollow) against infringement codified in the Bill of Rights.