The Obama administration defied a majority of the Senate on Tuesday by voting to approve a United Nations treaty on the trade of small arms and other conventional weapons.
The treaty, overwhelmingly approved by the U.N., requires countries to create internal mechanisms to ensure that their arms exports aren’t likely to be used to harm civilians or violate human rights laws.
President Obama is expected to sign the treaty within the next few months, but it faces a tough road to win the two-thirds majority support needed in the Senate for approval.
It is opposed by the National Rifle Association, which argues the accord violates the Second Amendment by regulating small arms, such as rifles and handguns, and calling for the creation of an “end-user registry.”
Fifty-three senators voiced their disapproval late last month by voting in favor of a nonbinding amendment to a Senate budget resolution to stop the U.S. from entering the treaty.
The NRA is pushing a separate resolution from Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) expressing the Senate’s opposition to the treaty.
“The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that passed in the General Assembly today would require the United States to implement gun-control legislation as required by the treaty, which could supersede the laws our elected officials have already put into place,” said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who sponsored the budget amendment.
“It’s time the Obama administration recognizes it is already a non-starter, and Americans will not stand for internationalists limiting and infringing upon their Constitutional rights.”
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, warned Obama not to sign it.
“If you sign it, and if the U.S. Senate ratifies the treaty, Texas will lead the charge to have the treaty overturned in court as a violation of the U.S. Constitution,” Abbott wrote to the president.
Administration officials hailed passage of the treaty, which Secretary of State John Kerry said would strengthen global security while protecting the rights of countries to conduct “legitimate” arms trade.
Full article: http://thehill.com/b … y-opposed-by-the-nra