(GunReports.com) — Secretary of State John Kerry signed a controversial U.N. treaty on arms regulation in late September, riling U.S. lawmakers who vow the Senate will not ratify the agreement, Fox News reports.
In advance of the signing, a State Department official said the treaty would “reduce the risk that international transfers of conventional arms will be used to carry out the world’s worst crimes,” while protecting gun rights.
“The Arms Trade Treaty directly threatens the Second Amendment rights and privacy of American gun owners,” Chris W. Cox, director of the NRA’s legislative branch wrote in a statement. “Signing this treaty would be a clear indication that President Obama wants to resurrect his failed attempt to implement back door gun registration. It would also show his clear contempt for American supremacy and sovereignty.”
The U.S. is the largest arms dealer in the world and its accession is seen as critical to the treaty’s success, although many other top arms dealers have not signed the document, the Associated Press reported.
“The treaty builds on decades of cooperative efforts to stem the international, illegal, and illicit trade in conventional weapons that benefits terrorists and rogue agents,” the official said.
U.S. lawmakers, though, have long claimed the treaty could lead to new gun control measures. They note the U.S. Senate has final say on whether to approve the agreement.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in a letter to President Obama, urged his administration not to take any action to implement the treaty without the consent of the Senate.
He claimed the treaty raises “fundamental issues” concerning “individual rights protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
