(GunReports.com) — U.N. and global gun banners began their most recent attack on Second Amendment freedoms by including civilian arms in the proposed Arms Trade Treaty, which was called for in a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2009. A conference began this week in New York City to draft the treaty’s language. The conference will run through July 27.
Day one of the conference began with a stunning degree of inaction, as the meeting failed to formally convene for either morning or afternoon sessions. However, anti-gun groups are present in force and are insisting that civilian firearms be included within the scope of the ATT.
Addressing the conference on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made an emotional speech calling for an ATT. He said, it was a “disgrace” that there is no treaty covering conventional arms (the implication being the inclusion of small arms) and that the world is “over armed.” He also called for strict national legislation to control arms. Meanwhile, Norway made its opening statement and called for the scope of the treaty to include “non-military arms,” a direct call that civilian firearms should be included within the ATT.
Thursday’s negotiations got off to a very slow start due to procedural issues, and adjourned late due to more of the same. Some countries did make statements that illustrated the deep divisions in the assembled body, especially over the issue of civilian firearms.
While the New Zealand delegate stated that, “The task is not to regulate state’s internal matters, such as conditions of domestic sales of arms or national systems of gun control or registration,” the delegate from Mexico took the opposite tack, saying individuals’ rights (i.e., the Second Amendment) are not an excuse for “products traded without controls.” This statement continued Mexico’s efforts to blame its drug cartel problem on American guns. The Mexican delegate then went on to say specifically that civilian firearms needed to be included in the ATT.
The NRA will be present throughout the entire U.N. meeting and will provide frequent updates.
In a joint position statement issued this week, French, German, British, and Swedish government officials said, “We believe that an arms trade treaty should cover all types of conventional weapons, notably including small arms and light weapons, all types of munitions, and related technologies.”
Read about it here.
