For years the United States and a majority of United Nations member countries have been trying to come up with a treaty to regulate the $70 billion dollar a year trade in armaments. This number includes jet fighters, tanks, artillery, rocket launchers, etc., and also includes small arms. Their goal was to keep these weapons out of the hands of Somali pirates, Al-Qaida, FARC, Lord’s Resistance Army, Columbian drug lords, et al. Hamas would not be pleased with an Arms Trade Treaty, either.
Interestingly enough, these groups have found an ally in the National Rifle Association and our duly-elected Republican U. S. Senators who, bowing to NRA pressure, have pledged to block ratification of this Arms Trade Treaty.
Back in the good old days, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin would have labeled the NRA a subversive organization and called these Senators “un- American” for siding with our enemies–North Korea, Iran, Syria, and the Taliban. But these are more civil times, so no one would indulge in such name calling! Indeed, these are just “defenders of the Constitution,” which they swore to uphold. However, if you dare to actually read the Arms Trade Treaty (www.un.org/disarmament/convarms/ArmsTradeTreaty/), it is easy to ascertain that it does not, in any way, infringe upon our Second Amendment Rights. It deals with the international trade in weapons, to ensure that weapons do not go to perpetrators of genocide, human rights abusers, criminal enterprises, and Nations embargoed by the U. N. Security Council.
A treaty would not keep legitimate U. S. gun buyers from purchasing foreign-made guns–as long as the U. S. government assures that the guns are going to buyers entitled by law to possess the guns. So, if you don’t pass your background check because of your prison record or your mental instability, you’re out of luck.
As for the Second Amendment, it is modeled after English Law, which was developed when King James II, a Catholic who ascended the throne of Protestant England. Worried that the King would force everyone to become Catholic, the right-to bear-arms was established–subject to reasonable regulation by Parliament. At that time in history, this right could detour a dictatorship. Looking at it from our own time, Syria is a good example of what it would accomplish.
Regardless, the Arms Trade Treaty is a good step in the direction of trying to establish a peaceful world and maintaining respect for human rights. Hopefully the NRA and their Senate puppets will give it a more careful reading and do an aboutface.