If you are a gun owner and you are not frightened by the gun control that will result if the United Nations Small Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is ratified, you need to educate yourself. The UN has written materials on their website, which describe the theory behind the proposed Treaty. I described the Treaty and its effects in my interview with Austin Hill this morning. You can listen to the audio under the title “Idaho Attorney and Gun Rights Expert Alex Kincaid Discusses the US Consideration of a UN Gun Registry” at www.IdahoReporter.com.
Or by hitting the play button here:
The crux of the problem according to the UN: the “irresponsible transfers of conventional weapons”. The goals of the ATT include limiting transfers of firearms and ammunition, creating a registry of firearm transfers, and limiting “stockpiling”.
The “world scourge” described on the UN website is that “Insurgents, armed gang members, pirates, terrorists – they can all multiply their force through the use of unlawfully acquired firepower. The illicit circulation of small arms, light weapons and their ammunition destabilizes communities, and impacts security and development in all regions of the world.”
It shouldn’t be any wonder why the international community sees our country as a primary “scourge”. The United States government has purposefully supplied firearms to criminals and terrorists in Mexico and Syria. And while the Obama administration supplies these international criminals, it at the same time encourages US citizens to judge all American gun owners because of a few lunatics who go on rampages. These over-publicized tragedies receive international attention. In addition, the United States is the world’s biggest arms exporter with a $55 billion a year trade in conventional firearms – 40% of the global total.
The ATT will require participating countries to assess the risk that firearms and ammunition transfers will “exacerbate conflict or be used to commit grave violations of international humanitarian law or human rights law” prior to approving transfers of weapons or ammunition. What does this mean? It means that the UN is creating a giant loophole for participating governments to deny the import and export of firearms. Theoretically, any firearm could be used to kill another person or make its way into the hands of criminals, and therefore, a transfer of that firearm could be deemed to make the possibility of a violation of human rights more likely. And voila, the Obama administration will use the ATT to deny the transfer of firearms, and other countries can deny export to the United States if they “assess the risk” and decide the firearms will likely exacerbate conflict. The effect? Fewer firearms imports and exports. AND, a registry of gun owners…
The ATT creates an international registry of gun owners because it will require marking and “appropriate records” upon import. The UN argues that “If national law enforcement officials were able to trace small arms back to their last legitimate owner”, those owners can be “held accountable” for crimes that are committed with a firearm. The Treaty therefore requires sufficient record keeping to allow government officials to trace all transfers of firearms. How “sufficient recordkeeping” will be interpreted and implemented remains to be seen.
My concerns are obviously shared by Gun Owners of America, which published in its recent newsletter that the GOA has determined that the ATT would give power to the UN to:
- Ban large categories of firearms, including semi-automatics and hand guns;
- Require universal registration and licensure;
- Require microstamping and, through that requirement, effectively ban most guns and ammunition.
Because President Obama stands eager and ready to sign the ATT, it is imperative that you let your Senators know NOW that you do not want it ratified.
