Firearms Industry Reps Meet With U.N. Ambassador, Potential Delegates Representatives of the firearms industry and non-governmental organizations, including the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute and the NRA, were in Washington, D.C., last week to meet with U.N. Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, the president-designate of an upcoming United Nations conference on combating the illicit small arms trade. The meeting allowed industry members to educate the ambassador, as well as potential members of the U.S. delegation to the conference, with factual information on U.S. manufacturing and distribution processes for sporting firearms and ammunition. A key issue addressed was the importance of differentiating military weapons and munitions from sporting firearms and ammunition when creating new rules and regulations. Misguided regulations that adversely affect the sporting arms industry could have dire consequences on areas as diverse as national economies, wildlife management and law enforcement training, just to mention a few, without making one bit of difference in addressing the tragedies of illegal use of weapons in other parts of the world. Worse, misguided regulations could actually serve to create a whole new class of victims and tragedies. The meeting was hosted by the U.S. Department of State and also included potential delegates from ATF and the Department of Defense. The 2006 U.N. Conference to Review Progress in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects will take place in late June and early July.