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The United Nations is polishing up a global Arms Transfer Treaty (ATT) this month in a New York convention that would create a global registry of private ownership of firearms. This treaty – which would also mandate creation of a national collection agency for those guns and is contrary to the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment – has the long-standing and enthusiastic backing of the Obama State Department, headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
u201CConventional arms transfers are a crucial national security concern for the United States, and we have always supported effective action to control the international transfer of arms,u201D Hillary Clinton noted as early as October 14, 2009. Clinton boasted that u201Cthe United States regularly engages other states to raise their standards and to prohibit the transfer or transshipment of capabilities to rogue states, terrorist groups, and groups seeking to unsettle regions.u201D Of course, that speech was delivered at the same time the Obama administration was transferring some 2,000 small arms to Mexican drug gangs in the u201CFast and Furiousu201D gun-walking scandal.
The State Department website nevertheless absurdly continues to boast that u201CThe United States has in place an extensive and rigorous system of controls that most agree is the ‘gold standard’ of export controls for arms transfers.u201D
In view of such obviously false public statements, one may question the sincerity of Obama State Department promises about u201Credlinesu201D to the UN ATT, which supposedly protect the Second Amendment: u201CThe Second Amendment to the Constitution must be upheld. There will be no restrictions on civilian possession or trade of firearms otherwise permitted by law or protected by the U.S. Constitution. There will be no dilution or diminishing of sovereign control over issues involving the private acquisition, ownership, or possession of firearms, which must remain matters of domestic law.u201D The Obama State Department also promises u201CThere will be no mandate for an international body to enforce an ATT.u201D
So America’s Second Amendment rights are safe, right?
Hardly.
The draft of the treaty prepared earlier this year by the UN Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) explains that the treaty is aimed at crime control as well as rogue militias in developing nations:
The majority of conflict deaths are caused by the use of small arms, and civilian populations bear the brunt of armed conflict more than ever. Also, small arms are the dominant tools of criminal violence.
The PrepCom report of February 2012 – despite protestations by the Hillary Clinton’s minions – is not limited merely to international transfer of firearms. The draft treaty covers u201Ctransfersu201D as well as imports and exports of firearms:
The international transactions or activities covered by this Treaty include those listed below and defined in Annex A:
(a) Import;
(b) Export;
(c) Transfer…
In this matter, the 2012 conference is merely following the goals of the 2001 UN Programme of Action on small arms, which required national gun registries and collection agencies for those guns once they’ve been registered. The 2001 Programme of Action requires nations:
To ensure that comprehensive and accurate records are kept for as long as possible on the manufacture, holding and transfer of small arms and light weapons under their jurisdiction. These records should be organized and maintained in such a way as to ensure that accurate information can be promptly retrieved and collated by competent national authorities.
To develop and implement, where possible, effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, including the effective collection, control, storage and destruction of small arms and light weapons…
The UN is still seeking this kind of broad control over private firearms ownership, and UN General Assembly resolution 66/47, adopted December 2, 2011 in advance of this month’s conference that it seeks to ban u201CThe illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects.u201D [Emphasis added]
