Nobody in the Obama administration is very fond of working with Congress, or abiding by laws they don’t like. So it’s no surprise that Secretary of State John Kerry signed a global gun control treaty that is a massive infringement on the 2nd Amendment rights of US citizens and a blow to US sovereignty.
Earlier this year, [Senator James] Inhofe introduced an amendment to a budget proposal that would prevent the U.S. from entering into the U.N. arms treaty in order to uphold the Second Amendment. His amendment passed 53-46.
So why sign a treaty that the Senate won’t ratify into law and which some argue won’t affect domestic gun rights anyway?
Because it will give the president cover to do on gun control what he does so well on other issues — ignore Congress, the Constitution and we the people so he can govern by regulation and executive order.
The treaty will also give state and local governments an argument to restrict gun rights at the local level, despite the recent electoral smack down of two anti-gun legislators in Colorado. It will, as well, provide the courts, which are increasingly prone to take foreign laws and treaties as relevant, with leverage against the Second Amendment.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance and it might be time for gun rights supporters to be vigilant. This treaty matters. Article 5 of the Arms Trade Treaty requires signatories to set up a “National Control List.” Country leaders who sign the treaty “shall establish and maintain a national control system, including a national control list,” which sounds suspiciously like national gun registration.
The text of the treaty also “encourages” nations to “apply the provisions of this Treaty to the broadest range of conventional arms,” causing gun rights advocates to fear that regulators will seek to limit not just so-called assault weapon ownership, but handguns and hunting rifles as well. (Read More)
Again I have to point out the hypocrisy. President Obama is out there demanding funding for Obamacare, a law he constantly reminds us was passed by Congress, while his administration routinely ignores other laws passed by Congress. Even worse, Inhofe’s amendment wasn’t passed in the dead of night over the objection of a majority of the American people.
Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) released the following statement after Kerry signed the treaty:
Sen. Moran Responds to Secretary Kerry Signing the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – author of S. Con. Res. 7, the bipartisan resolution that makes clear a United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (U.N. ATT) that undermines constitutional freedoms of American gun owners will not be ratified by the Senate – responded to Secretary of State John Kerry signing the U.N. ATT.
“Today’s signing of the ATT is a direct dismissal of the bipartisan Senate majority that rejects this treaty,” Sen. Moran said. “Throughout this process, it has been disturbing to watch the Administration reverse U.S. policies, abandon its own ‘red line’ negotiation principles, admit publicly the treaty’s dangerous ambiguity, and hastily review the final treaty text. It is regretful that the Administration has nonetheless continued to press forward and sign the treaty today.
“By failing to recognize the lawful ownership of firearms or the inherent right to self-defense as fundamental individual rights, the ATT poses a significant threat to our Second Amendment freedoms. As such, I am confident the Senate will overwhelmingly oppose ratification of the ATT, and ultimately refuse to uphold its object and purpose.”
Over the past two years, Sen. Moran has led multiple Senate efforts to express concerns to the Administration about the ATT including:
- In May 2012, Sen. Moran spoke on the U.S. Senate Floor about S. 2205, the Second Amendment Sovereignty Act, which he introduced to prohibit funding to negotiate a U.N. ATT that restricts the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens;
- In July 2012, Sen. Moran drafted a letter signed by 50 of his Senate colleagues and wrote an op-ed notifying the Administration that there was strong enough opposition to block the ATT from Senate passage; and
- In March 2013, Sen. Moran introduced S. Con. Res. 7, a concurrent resolution sponsored by 35 of his Senate colleagues, which outlines specific criteria that must be met for U.N. ATT to be ratified by the U.S. Senate and recognized as customary international law. S. Con. Res. 7 has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, Heritage Action, and the Endowment for Middle East Truth.
Ironic, isn’t it, that Obama and Kerry were both Senators, but now simply ignore their former colleagues?
Also notable is how under this administration military weapons and equipment were stolen by terrorists in Libya, and then there was the arms exporting operation we all know as Operation Fast and Furious. Maybe they should draft some sort of treaty abolishing supplying weapons to bad guys. Oh, sorry, I almost forgot, Obama waived the law that bans giving arms to terrorists.
This would all be laughable if it wasn’t so damned serious.