UN Arms Treaty Faces Formidable Senate Opposition

“What this treaty does is simple: It helps lift other countries up to the highest standards. It requires other countries to create and enforce the kind of strict national export controls that the United States already has in place,” Kerry said. “And I emphasize here we are talking about the kind of export controls that for decades have not diminished one iota our ability in the United States as Americans to exercise our rights under the constitution.” The State Department said (here) the ATT also implements the following policies, along with others:

• Countries that are party to the Treaty are required to establish national export and import controls for tanks, combat vehicles and aircraft, warships, missile and artillery systems, small arms and light weapons.
• This will require States Parties to establish export and import control systems closer to the high standard the U.S. already sets with its own national system. Joining the Arms Trade Treaty would not result in any additional U.S. export or import controls.
• The Treaty also reaffirms the sovereign right of any State to regulate conventional arms within its own territory according to its own legal or constitutional system. Nothing in the Arms Trade Treaty is inconsistent with the rights of U.S. citizens, including those protected by the Second Amendment.

The UN said 108 countries have signed the treaty, exceeding the halfway point for worldwide endorsement (here), but only seven states have ratified the treaty. “It is of particular significance that the largest arms exporting country in the world, the United States, is now also among those countries who have committed themselves to a global regulation of the arms trade,” said a spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (here).

Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in a letter (here) sent to President Barack Obama a day prior to U.S. endorsement on Sept. 24, said the Senate has not yet provided its advice or consent. The Executive branch is not authorized to implement the treaty until that advice or consent is given or Congress passes the law that brings the treaty into effect, Corker said. Senator James Inhofe, R-Okla., dismissed the possibility of the Senate approval needed for ratification, claiming the bill will fail as other notable UN treaties have in the past. “It has been made clear on several occasions that the President does not have the support of the Senate when it comes to the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty,” said Inhofe, in a separate Sept. 24 letter (here). Inhofe noted the 53-vote Senate approval of a March budget provision that prohibited U.S. compliance with the ATT. The treaty will establish a gun registry that infringes on U.S. gun possession rights, the National Rifle Association (NRA) said the day the U.S. endorsed the treaty.

“The treaty urges recordkeeping of end users, directing importing countries to provide information to an exporting country regarding arms transfers, including ‘end use or end user documentation’ for a ‘minimum of ten years,’” said National Rifle Association executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, Chris Cox in a statement (here). “Each country is to ‘take measures, pursuant to its national laws, to regulate brokering taking place under its jurisdiction for conventional arms.’ Data kept on the end users of imported firearms is a de-facto registry of law-abiding firearms owners, which is a violation of federal law.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., did not respond for comment.