Global Gun Grab: The United Nations Campaign to Disarm Americans by William Grigg

When the United Nations proclaims “general and complete disarmament,” the phrase carries the weight of diplomacy and peace. In Global Gun Grab: The United Nations Campaign to Disarm Americans, William Norman Grigg strips away the rhetoric to document what that call has meant in practice—and why it matters now. Drawing on his years as a correspondent at UN summits, Grigg argues that the same program advanced abroad is aimed squarely at the United States. It is not simply a warning but a verdict: a Global Gun Grab.

Grigg takes readers from the hills of Rwanda to the shattered landscapes of the Balkans, reconstructing how UN-mandated disarmament unfolded. In Rwanda, villagers who surrendered their weapons were left defenseless when slaughter came. In the Balkans, arms collections deepened power imbalances amid civil war. These case studies are not academic footnotes — they are evidence of what happens when an institution strips away the last line of personal defense while promising protection it cannot deliver.

Moving back to New York and Geneva, Grigg situates those tragedies within the official declarations, treaties, and conferences that drive UN policy. The language of arms control and humanitarian aid, he contends, conceals a deeper push to erode sovereignty and centralize authority. He shows how promises of “human security” are paired with binding agreements that would bypass the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment.

For readers concerned about liberty, the implications are troubling. Global Gun Grab is not a relic of 2001 but a guide to understanding today’s headlines on arms treaties, small-arms summits, and global governance. Grigg’s narrative is swift, forceful, and documented — drawing not on speculation but on resolutions, case studies, and first-hand reportage. His indictment presses one urgent point: the disarmament drive abroad is the dress rehearsal for a campaign at home. (2001, 151pp, poc)