The United Nations is polishing up a global Arms Transfer Treaty
(ATT) this month in a New York convention that would create a global
registry of private ownership of firearms. This treaty – which
would also mandate creation of a national collection agency for
those guns and is contrary to the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment
– has the long-standing and
enthusiastic backing of the Obama State Department, headed by
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“Conventional arms transfers are a crucial national security concern
for the United States, and we have always supported effective action
to control the international transfer of arms,” Hillary Clinton
noted
as early as October 14, 2009. Clinton boasted that “the United
States regularly engages other states to raise their standards and
to prohibit the transfer or transshipment of capabilities to rogue
states, terrorist groups, and groups seeking to unsettle regions.”
Of course, that speech was delivered at the same time the Obama
administration was transferring some 2,000 small arms to Mexican
drug gangs in the
“Fast and Furious” gun-walking scandal.

The State Department website nevertheless absurdly continues to
boast
that “The United States has in place an extensive and rigorous
system of controls that most agree is the ‘gold standard’ of export
controls for arms transfers.”

In view of such obviously false public statements, one may question
the sincerity of Obama State Department promises about
“redlines” to the UN ATT, which supposedly protect the Second
Amendment: “The Second Amendment to the Constitution must be upheld.
There will be no restrictions on civilian possession or trade of
firearms otherwise permitted by law or protected by the U.S. Constitution.
There will be no dilution or diminishing of sovereign control over
issues involving the private acquisition, ownership, or possession
of firearms, which must remain matters of domestic law.” The Obama
State Department also promises “There will be no mandate for an
international body to enforce an ATT.”

So America’s Second Amendment rights are safe, right?

Hardly.

The draft
of the treaty prepared earlier this year by the UN Preparatory
Committee (PrepCom) explains that the treaty is aimed at crime control
as well as rogue militias in developing nations:

The majority of conflict deaths are
caused by the use of small arms, and civilian populations bear the
brunt of armed conflict more than ever. Also, small arms are the
dominant tools of criminal violence.

The PrepCom report
of February 2012 – despite protestations by the Hillary
Clinton’s minions – is not limited merely to international
transfer of firearms. The draft treaty covers “transfers” as well
as imports and exports of firearms:

The international transactions or activities
covered by this Treaty include those listed below and defined in
Annex A:

(a) Import;

(b) Export;

(c) Transfer…

In this matter, the 2012 conference is merely following the goals
of the 2001 UN Programme of Action on small arms, which
required national gun registries and collection agencies for those
guns once they’ve been registered. The
2001 Programme of Action requires nations:

To ensure that comprehensive and accurate
records are kept for as long as possible on the manufacture, holding
and transfer of small arms and light weapons under their jurisdiction.
These records should be organized and maintained in such a way as
to ensure that accurate information can be promptly retrieved and
collated by competent national authorities.

To develop and implement, where possible,
effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes,
including the effective collection, control, storage and destruction
of small arms and light weapons…

The UN is still seeking this kind of broad control over private
firearms ownership, and UN
General Assembly resolution 66/47, adopted December 2, 2011
in advance of this month’s conference that it seeks to ban “The
illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects.”
[Emphasis added]

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the rest of the article

July
19, 2012

Thomas R.
Eddlem [send
him mail] is a freelance writer and educator
who focuses upon the kids surrounding the smart kid’s test paper.
He writes for LewRockwell.com, The
New American, and AntiWar.com.

Copyright
© 2012 The New American

Thomas
R. Eddlem Archives