Epic Fail: U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Fizzles Out

Epic Fail: U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Fizzles OutThe Conference on the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (U.N. ATT) has broken down and will not report a draft treaty to the member nations-a big victory for American gun owners. How did the treaty go from a done deal to epic fail almost overnight 

Cheaper Than Dirt Epic Fail: U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Fizzles Out The Conference on the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (U.N. ATT) has broken down and will not report a draft treaty to the member nations. This is a big victory for American gun owners, and the NRA is being widely credited for killing the U.N. ATT. NRA worked with pro-gun allies in the U.S. Congress and successfully assembled strong bipartisan opposition to any treaty that adversely impacts the Second Amendment. On two occasions NRA was successful in convincing a majority of the U.S. Senate to sign letters to President Obama that made it clear that any treaty that included civilian arms was not going to be ratified by the U.S. Senate. On July 26, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) gathered the signatures of 51 Senators on a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton opposing any treaty that infringes on domestic gun rights. The letter stated, “As the treaty process continues, we strongly encourage your administration not only to uphold our country’s constitutional protections of civilian firearms ownership, but to ensure — if necessary, by breaking consensus at the July conference — that the treaty will explicitly recognize the legitimacy of lawful activities associated with firearms, including but not limited to the right of self-defense. As members of the United States Senate, we will oppose the ratification of any Arms Trade Treaty that falls short of this standard.” During the week leading up to the impasse, it became increasingly possible that the Conference would fail to come to an agreement on draft language. On Thursday, the Conference President produced yet another draft of the ATT in an effort to salvage the process. The new draft, like previous ones, was wholly incompatible with Second Amendment rights protected by the Constitution. Details of the Composite ‘Working Document’ were released on July 24. The draft barred weapons transfers to “non-state actors” – which, by definition, include private citizens. A U.S. delegate argued against the provisions during closed-door talks Friday. Also, proponents said the first draft of the U.N. treaty had “more holes than a leaky bucket.”link

UN states fail to reach arms trade treaty

Negotiations to create landmark treaty to regulate global conventional arms trade valued at $60bn end without agreement.

Member states have failed to reach agreement on a new UN treaty to regulate the multibillion dollar global arms trade, with some diplomats and supporters blaming the US for triggering the unraveling of the month-long negotiating conference. Hopes had been raised that agreement could be reached on a revised treaty text that closed some major loopholes by Friday's deadline for action. However, the US announced that it needed more time to consider the proposed treaty, with Russia and China then also asking for more time. The UN General Assembly voted in December 2006 to work toward a treaty regulating the growing arms trade, with the US casting a "no" vote. In October 2009, the Barack Obama, the US president, reversed the Bush administration's position and supported an assembly resolution to hold four preparatory meetings and a four-week UN conference in 2012 to draft an arms trade treaty. Washington insisted that a treaty had to be approved by the consensus of all 193 UN member states. Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritan, the conference chairman, said treaty supporters knew "this was going to be difficult to achieve" and there were some delegations that did not like the draft though "the overwhelming majority in the room did". He added that some countries from the beginning of negotiations had "different views" on a treaty, including Syria, Iran and North Korea. Despite the failure to reach agreement, Moritan predicted that "we certainly are going to have a treaty in 2012". He said there are several options for moving forward in the General Assembly which will be considered over the summer, before the world body's new session begins in September. Senators' threat The estimated $60bn international arms trade is unregulated, though the US and other countries have their own rules on exports. The powerful National Rifle Association in the US has portrayed the treaty as a surrender of gun ownership rights enshrined in the US Constitution. The politically controversial issue has re-emerged since last week's shooting at a Colorado cinema that killed 12 people. On Thursday, a bipartisan group of 51 senators threatened to oppose the treaty if it falls short in protecting Americans' constitutional right to bear arms. In a letter to Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the senators expressed serious concerns with the draft treaty that has circulated at the UN, saying that it signals an expansion of gun control that would be unacceptable. Supporters of a treaty argue it would not affect law-abiding individual gun owners. 'Setback' Britain has taken the lead in pushing for a treaty to reduce the impact of the illicit arms trade. Ahead of Friday's meeting, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg discussed treaty prospects with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in London and told reporters and that both men had urged the treaty's adoption. "Global rules govern the sale of everything from bananas to endangered species to weapons of mass destruction, but not guns or grenades," Clegg said. "This anomaly causes untold suffering in conflicts around the world. One thousand people are killed daily by small arms wielded by terrorists, insurgents and criminal gangs." The secretary-general said he was disappointed at the failure to agree on a treaty, calling it "a setback". But he said he was encouraged that states have agreed to continue pursuing a treaty and pledged his "robust" support. At the end of the negotiating session, Mexico read a joint statement from more than 90 countries saying they "are determined to secure an Arms Trade Treaty as soon as possible". http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/07/20127281140649934.html