For the past 13 years, the United Nations has been working on a small arms treaty that has been ratified by 55 of their member states, crossing the threshold to take effect.
The treaty will begin on December 24, 2014.
The UN Gun Treaty would focus on imports and exports of conventional weapons and track their use among each nation’s civilian population.
The purpose of the treaty, according to the United Nations, is to ensure weapons don’t cross existing embargoes and do not end up being used for human rights abuses, including terrorism.
However, critics of the treaty feel the resolution goes much further.
The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has been fighting the treaty for years.
The NRA-ILA states, “Anti-gun treaty proponents continue to mislead the public, claiming the treaty would have no impact on American gun owners. That’s a bald-faced lie.
“For example, the most recent draft treaty includes export/import controls that would require officials in an importing country to collect information on the ‘end user’ of a firearm, keep the information for 20 years, and provide the information to the country from which the gun was exported.
“In other words, if you bought a Beretta shotgun, you would be an ‘end user’ and the U.S. government would have to keep a record of you and notify the Italian government about your purchase. That is gun registration.
“If the U.S. refuses to implement this data collection on law-abiding American gun owners, other nations might be required to ban the export of firearms to the U.S.”
Advocates of the small arms treaty claim it will reduce risk of use in nations where acts of genocide, organized crime and gender-based violence occur.
Secretary of State John Kerry signed the treaty on behalf of the United States in September of last year.
While Kerry signed the treaty with the support of President Obama, it must still be ratified in Congress.
However, given Obama’s unilateral action on immigration amnesty, critics of the treaty fear the president will use executive action to ratify the resolution on behalf of the United States.
The organization, Second Amendment Foundation, recently began a campaign to raise awareness of the possibility of President Obama signing an executive order on the UN Gun Treaty.
The group is also threatening a lawsuit on the issue with the organization’s founder, Alan Gottlieb, stating, “”SAF will not allow the Obama administration to attack our constitutional rights without a fight. If Barack Obama takes executive action, we will file a lawsuit to stop him, and hold him accountable.”
In the meantime, the countdown to Christmas Eve continues.
