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[Urist_McDrowner]

"The terrorists or the nation? If the former, you're an idiot, but if the latter, I don't see why that privilege would need to be specially given. It could be removed at times, of course, but I feel that it should be the norm rather than the exception."

"Of course I meant the country. I thought it was obvious enough that I needn't provide the antecedent."

While we realize that other countries may be hesitant to restrict guns, we would like to propose two documents. The first is a treaty regulating the sale of heavy weapons internationally. The second establishes an international Antiterrorist Council dedicated to coordinating antiterror efforts.

"The Swiss Government is firmly against the former, and will pursue the latter so long as it is in line with our sovereignty and our neutrality."

[GreatWyrmGold]

While we realize that other countries may be hesitant to restrict guns, we would like to propose two documents. The first is a treaty regulating the sale of heavy weapons internationally. The second establishes an international Antiterrorist Council dedicated to coordinating antiterror efforts.

"The latter is a bit more limited in scope than we'd like international organization to be...but we approve of both."

"The terrorists or the nation? If the former, you're an idiot, but if the latter, I don't see why that privilege would need to be specially given. It could be removed at times, of course, but I feel that it should be the norm rather than the exception."

"Of course I meant the country. I thought it was obvious enough that I needn't provide the antecedent."

"Off the records...you know what happens when you assume something, right? You make an a--What do you mean, I can't say stuff off the records?"

While we realize that other countries may be hesitant to restrict guns, we would like to propose two documents. The first is a treaty regulating the sale of heavy weapons internationally. The second establishes an international Antiterrorist Council dedicated to coordinating antiterror efforts.

"The Swiss Government is firmly against the former, and will pursue the latter so long as it is in line with our sovereignty and our neutrality."

"I'd like to point out that the former bill is just restrictions on selling artillery-level weapons to those in other nations. Hm, wait, you export a lot of those, don't you?...Yeah, I see your point."

[RulerOfNothing]

The chief Iranian delegate spoke up:

"With regards to recent terrorist actions, I believe that we should commit to sharing whatever information we can gather about terrorist organisations between each other. In particular, those countries who have suffered Horus Kopesh attacks should disclose whatever they know about said organisation's targets, assets and methodology. I must point out however that our acceptance of any more stringent international counter-terrorism measures depends on acceptable answers to several questions, mostly relating to the source of manpower and materiel, the exact form of the command structure and the basing of the aforementioned manpower and materiel."

"Regarding the moratorium on the international sales of heavy weaponry, we wholeheartedly approve of this measure, as it will cause the proliferation of such weapons to be slowed down significantly, which will reduce the incidence of major conflicts."

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

While we realize that other countries may be hesitant to restrict guns, we would like to propose two documents. The first is a treaty regulating the sale of heavy weapons internationally. The second establishes an international Antiterrorist Council dedicated to coordinating antiterror efforts.

"Define 'Heavy Weapon.'  We can agree to the second one, when the details are worked out, but we would like to know the extent the first document would include before we can agree or disagree to it."

[Urist_McDrowner]

"Feel free to sign all the arms bans you want. Switzerland will have no part in it. Terrorists don't use artillery, or tanks. They use small arms and IEDs."

[GreatWyrmGold]

"True, true, but aside from military I see no reason to sell artillery and the like in the first place."

[Urist_McDrowner]

"True, true, but aside from military I see no reason to sell artillery and the like in the first place."

"The overwhelming majority of sales, 99.99% and I'm sure I've dropped a few nines there, are to internationally recognized nations and direct obvious successors to pre-calamity governments. But even to non-government entities, this is a chaotic world we live in, since the calamity. It's much harder to tell what a legitimate government is and what is not. I'd also point out that neither the New Order terrorists nor Horus Khopesh to my knowledge are packing Swiss heat extensively."

[GreatWyrmGold]

"True enough. Still, I made the point I meant to make."

[Urist_McDrowner]

"And I stand by mine. Feel free to make arms bans among yourself, just don't expect to enforce it on us."

[GreatWyrmGold]

"I still don't see how that in any way contradicts my points."

[Taricus]

John cough, wondering how the other representatives had missed the fact that Horus' Khopesh had started taking steps in acquiring a WMD, before he spoke up once again.

"As a definition of a "heavy weapon", anything outside of small arms and light weapons, which means anything outside of those would be illegal to sell in a commercial transaction. That answer your question, Mongolian?

While such a ban would severly prohibit the ability for groups such as the Khopesh's to obtain such weaponry, any ban would amount to nothing if there is nothing to enforce such a ban."

[Urist_McDrowner]

The Swiss delegate repeatedly shook his head and responded with incredulity, "I don't know how I can make this point clearer; tanks, military aircraft, artillery of both the towed and self-propelled varieties, etc. are all weapons terrorists don't use. Why create a ban that would only hurt legitimate, sovereign governments that lack a domestic military-industrial complex capable of producing such heavy weaponry? Even if the terrorists did use these weapons, it would only be to our advantage. A tank, unlike an AK-47, is not easily concealed or cheap. They would be wasting their money trying to get it, because as soon as it would be in their possession, it would be taken out by air strike. But anywho, I don't care what you do, but my government would rest a lot easier if one of the terms of this ban would be that it would not be enforced on non-signatories."

[Remuthra]

One of the major focuses of the ban would be on explosives, launchers, and heavy machine guns. Terrorists may not use artillery yet, but they certainly will use RPG-7s and nitroglycerine if given the chance. The enforcement would have to be decided upon, but that is something the proposed council would be designed for. As for you, Swiss, why should nations that don't participate in the effort to stop terrorism have a say in what extent other nations can take in working to do just that? We are only as strong as our weakest link, and it's only your own fault if your economy is based on profiting off of war.

[Urist_McDrowner]

"For one whose very existence is threatened by a terrorist group, you're doing a terrible job of winning friends. We don't 'profit off war' as you say, we help the countries who don't have domestic production yet or are just too poor to construct and maintain high-grade weapons manufacturing sites defend themselves, heck, even against these very terrorists. Because that's who this would hurt. The large Swiss companies already have fabrications sites in many developed rich countries, so an import export ban wouldn't hurt us or the rich countries that way, it would hurt the poor countries that can't make quality weapons, that we can't for security or regulatory reasons maintain facilities in. And I reiterate, nobody is alleging and I've not gotten a single report of these terrorists using Swiss weapons extensively. Bombs and IEDs are easily produced in anything from a machine shop to a cave. The means of detecting and neutralizing them are not. Small arms can be made by cottage gunsmiths; Armored vehicles and drones can not. The terrorists would not be affected by this ban, only legitimate governments would be."

[GreatWyrmGold]

"Just to point out, New Order, nitroglycerin is a chemical, not a heavy weapon. It's also useful as medicine. Anyways, the Swiss have a point; your claims have more holes than their cheese, pardon the wordplay. The simple fact is, the weapons banned in the Heavy Weapons ban aren't ones that terrorists have ever used; they prefer explosive weapons and portable ones. In any case, as we noted a while back, laws don't stop criminals; they do less to terrorists. If you're the kind of person who would blow up himself and a building for a Cause, why would you fear arms-limitation laws for that same Cause?"