What Do You Think?

[loosebelly]

looks like we just might have some people in our government that remember why they are there and what the second amendment is for.


copied from:
http://www.usnews.com/news/washington-whispers/articles/2011/07/26/opposition-mounts-to-un-gun-control-treaty-opposition-mounts-to-un-gun-control-treaty


Opposition Mounts To U.N. Gun Control Treaty
By Paul Bedard

Posted: July 26, 2011



Senate opposition is growing to President Obama's support for a United Nations effort that could bring international gun control into the United States and slap America's gun owners with severe restrictions.


At last count, 55 senators, including 10 Democrats, have signed letters to the president and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying they will oppose the Arms Trade Treaty . The treaty must win a two-thirds majority to win passage, meaning that approval appears doomed if the treaty language isn't changed. [See photos of the Obamas abroad.]

Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran is leading the largest group of opposition. He sent a letter signed by 44 other senators warning the president not to move on the treaty.

"Our country's sovereignty and the Second Amendment rights of American citizens must not be infringed upon by the United Nations," Moran wrote in the letter. "Today, the Senate sends a powerful message to the Obama Administration: an Arms Trade Treaty that does not protect ownership of civilian firearms will fail in the Senate. Our firearm freedoms are not negotiable."

The treaty, which the Bush administration had opposed, deals with the international trade of arms. It would cover the trading of conventional firearms likes those used by collectors and sportsmen and women. [Read NRA Boss: Obama's Gone in 2012. http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/06/27/nra-boss-obamas-gone-in-2012 ]

The goal of the treaty is to come up with internationally recognized rules governing the trade of guns and ammo. The United States is the world's largest exporter of arms.

To sooth concerns, the administration has said that it would sign the accord only if all other states agreed to it first, but pro-gun groups view the international treaty as a first step toward home-grown gun control.

The senators and groups like the National Rifle Association argue that it would essentially gut the Second Amendment by allowing an international authority to control American gun ownership.

A final version of the treaty is expected to be finished next year.

The NRA has made killing the treaty their top goal.

"As we have for the past 15 years, the NRA will fight to stop a United Nations Arms Trade Treaty that infringes on the Constitutional rights of American gun owners," said Chris Cox, the NRA's top lobbyist. He said that Moran's letter "sends a clear message to the international bureaucrats who want to eliminate our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms. Clearly, a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that includes civilian arms within its scope is not supported by the American people or their elected U.S. Senators. Senator Moran is a true champion of our freedom. We are grateful for his leadership and his tenacious efforts on this issue, as well as the 44 other senators who agree with the NRA's refusal to compromise on our constitutional freedoms."

[loosebelly]

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/26/democrats-oppose-obama-un-gun-control-treaty


Democrats Oppose Obama-U.N. Gun Control Treaty
By Paul Bedard

Posted: July 26, 2011


Twelve Democratic senators have joined 45 Republicans in a fast growing movement to halt progress on an Obama-backed United Nations effort that could bring international gun control into the United States and slap America's gun owners with severe restrictions.

[Read more about gun rights and gun control. http://www.usnews.com/topics/subjects/gun-control-and-gun-rights]

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester's office today provided Whispers with their letter, signed by 11 other Democrats, urging the president to press for significant changes in the treaty. Their major concern: that domestic manufacture, possession, and sales of firearms and ammo will be included, thereby giving an international authority the right to regulate arms sales already protected by the Second Amendment. They also said any move for an international gun registry would be a non-starter.


A Republican letter circulated by Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran has 45 signatures.

Ratification requires two-thirds of the Senate. So far 57 senators have said they would vote against the treaty, expected to be wrapped up next year.

In his letter, Moran wrote, "Our country's sovereignty and the Second Amendment rights of American citizens must not be infringed upon by the United Nations," Moran wrote in the letter. "Today, the Senate sends a powerful message to the Obama Administration: an Arms Trade Treaty that does not protect ownership of civilian firearms will fail in the Senate. Our firearm freedoms are not negotiable."

The emergence of strong Democratic resistance comes as the president is trying to deal with fallout from liberal Democrats upset that he has opened the door to major changes in Social Security and Medicare as part of the debt ceiling crisis.

The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, which the Bush administration had opposed, would regulate with the international trade of arms. It would cover the trading of conventional firearms likes those used by collectors and sportsmen and women.

The goal of the treaty is to come up with internationally recognized rules governing the trade of guns and ammo. The United States is the world's largest exporter of arms.

Tester's letter concludes, "As members of the United States Senate, it is our constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on the ratification of the United Nation's Arms Trade Treaty. Before we could support ratification, we must have assurances that our concerns are adequately addressed and that the Treaty will not in any way impede upon the Constitutional rights of American gun owners. Anything short of this commitment would be unacceptable.