From the NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre delivering remarks before the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty Conference last week:
...to a follow-up statement last week:
NRA Stops U.N. Arms Trade Treaty
NRA-ILA
Posted on July 27, 2012
U.N. ATT Conference Comes to an Impasse
The Conference on the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (U.N. ATT)
has broken down and will not report a draft treaty to the member
nations.
This is a big victory for American gun owners, and the NRA is being
widely credited for killing the U.N. ATT.
For nearly 20 years, the NRA has worked tirelessly to warn American gun
owners about the United Nations’ efforts to undermine the constitutional
rights of law-abiding American gun owners by putting in place
international controls on small arms.
NRA became a recognized Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and has
monitored all U.N. activities that could impact on our Second Amendment
rights. As a result, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre
testified before the U.N. making it clear that the NRA would fight any
international treaty that included civilian arms.
NRA worked with our allies in the U.S. Congress and successfully
assembled strong bipartisan opposition to any treaty that adversely
impacts the Second Amendment. On two occasions NRA was successful in
convincing a majority of the U.S. Senate to sign letters to President
Obama that made it clear that any treaty that included civilian arms was
not going to be ratified by the U.S. Senate.
Yesterday (July 26), Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) gathered the signatures
of 51 Senators on a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton
opposing any treaty that infringes on our rights<. The letter stated "As the treaty
process continues, we strongly encourage your administration not only to
uphold our country's constitutional protections of civilian firearms
ownership, but to ensure--if necessary, by breaking consensus at the
July conference--that the treaty will explicitly recognize the
legitimacy of lawful activities associated with firearms, including but
not limited to the right of self-defense. As members of the United
States Senate, we will oppose the ratification of any Arms Trade Treaty
that falls short of this standard."
NRA members made their voices heard on this issue as well, calling their
elected representatives and urging their opposition to the treaty. As a
result, 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have voiced strong opposition to
the treaty.
During the past week, it became increasingly possible that the
Conference would fail to come to an agreement on draft language. On
Thursday, the Conference President produced yet another draft of the ATT
in an effort to salvage the process. The new draft, like previous ones,
was wholly incompatible with the Second Amendment rights protected by
our Constitution.
The proponents of the treaty have goals that are clearly at odds with
the American Constitution. Their refusal to remove civilian arms from
the treaty was one major issue that led to the breakdown in
negotiations. The U.S. delegation made it clear that they could not
move forward with the language as it had been drafted.
While this conference has failed to complete a treaty, the proponents
will not give up. It is likely that a new conference will be held in
the future and NRA will continue to fight to protect the rights of
American gun owners.
NRA maintains its steadfast opposition to any treaty that includes
civilian arms in any way. NRA will continue to work with our allies,
particularly in the U.S. Senate, to insure that the Right to Keep and
Bear Arms is not threatened by this or any future international treaty.
~~~~~~~~~~~
NRA for the WIN!
Posts
