In less than a year the U.S. government has gone from being one of the chief opponents of the proposed UN Small Arms Control Treaty to being a strong supporter. Elections do matter and have consequences.
As many predicted, the United States has changed its United Nations Gun Control Treaty position by joining other countries in the UN’s General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament And Peace, with a resolution calling for the drafting of an International Arms Trading Treaty. This Treaty, which will be up for a final UN vote in 2012, will regulate small arms, as well as other conventional arms.
This treaty will regulate production, supply, transfer, acquisition and storage of small arms by the end user, among others, all U.S. gun owners.
The UN General Assembly voted on a similar resolution in 2006, and George W. Bush instructed US Ambassador to vote against the resolution because he believed the Second Amendment would be infringed by such a treaty. The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution then, and the sole vote against a Treaty resolution killed a new Treaty. But, we have a different President with a different agenda now.
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, believes that this proposed Treaty will be a strong one, and that the U.S. government was prepared to use a UN conference to support it.
The UN., in a 2006 Obamaesque “Myths and Facts” Press Statement called “Setting The Record Straight” about the UN and small arms said that,
“MYTH: The Conference is being convened to draft a global treaty to ban ownership of firearms.
FACTS: The Review Conference is not about banning small arms or prohibiting people from owning legal weapons. “
But, a 10/21/09 UN Press Release said,
“Welcoming an arms trade treaty as a globally-binding instrument to regulate the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania said that the time between now and the diplomatic conference planned for 2012 on that treaty should be used to ensure that the text addressed the diverse concerns of future States parties regarding the production, supply, transfer, acquisition and storage by the end users. It is entirely reasonable to believe that the UN means to include U.S. gun owners are in the “end user’ category.
Gun control groups are giddy now. A Gun Control Treaty that would be legally binding on US gun owners is in the offing.
Rebecca Peters of IANSA, the International Action Network on Small arms, an organization advocates stronger gun control that played a major role in the Australian gun ban, was reveling in the upcoming UN Treaty.
Peters, the Director of one of the Brady’s favorite groups also said, "All countries participate in the conventional arms trade and share responsibility for the 'collateral damage' it produces -- widespread death, injuries and human rights abuses." said Rebecca Peters, director of the International Action Network on Small Arms.
"Now finally governments have agreed to negotiate legally binding global controls on this deadly trade."
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