Nations gather for final U.N. arms trade treaty negotiations

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Negotiators from around 150 countries gather in New York on Monday for a final push to hammer out a binding international treaty to end unregulated conventional arms sales, a pact that a powerful U.S. pro-gun lobby is urging Washington to reject.

Arms control campaigners and human rights advocates say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence, and that a treaty is needed to halt the uncontrolled flow of weapons and ammunition that they argue helps fuel wars, atrocities and rights abuses.

The U.N. General Assembly voted in December to relaunch negotiations this week on what could become the first global treaty to regulate the world's $70 billion trade for all conventional weapons - from naval ships, tanks and attack helicopters to handguns and assault rifles - after a drafting conference in July 2012 collapsed because the United States, then Russia and China, wanted more time.

Delegates to the July conference said that Washington had wanted to push the issue past the November 2012 presidential election, though the administration of President Barack Obama denied that. The current negotiations will run through March 28.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/18/us-arms-treaty-un-idUSBRE92H03A20130318

[madville]

1. Needs 67 votes in the Senate to be approved

If it ever even gets brought up for a vote. Don't see the 67 votes happening regardless.

[naaman fletcher]

2. I'm not sure what the issue is, does anyone know?

The US already has a very extensive regulatory system for the iternational traffic in weapons and ammunition, as do all of the EU countries as well as most others.

It seems to me all this is trying to do is to get such a framework in place for all countries.

What is the objection?

[dipsydoodle]

3. More detail here

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/15/us-arms-treaty-usa-idUSBRE92E12N20130315

[pampango]

4. The NRA weighs in. stirring up 'anti-UN panic' - 'The UN is coming for your guns...'

NRA accused of stirring 'anti-UN panic' in campaign against Arms Trade Treaty

For years, the NRA has painted the UN as a bogeyman figure, claiming in its literature and fundraising drives that there is an international conspiracy to "grab your guns". Last July, when negotiations on the Arms Trade Treaty broke down – in part because of US resistance to global regulations on gun sales – the gun lobby group claimed victory for "killing the UN ATT]/i]".

Supporters of the treaty accuse the NRA of deceiving the US public about the pact, which they say will have no impact on US domestic gun ownership as it applies only to exports.

Michelle Ringuette, chief of campaigns and programs at Amnesty International USA, said they had witnessed a resurgence in the NRA's attempts to influence lawmakers and to use its opposition to the UN treaty as an opportunity for fundraising.

A report by the American Bar Association last month, which examined whether the arms treaty would impinge on the Second Amendment, concluded that "the proposed ATT is consistent with the Second Amendment … the treaty would not require new domestic regulations of firearms."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/17/nra-un-panic-arms-treaty

The NRA, as with most right-wing organizations, misses no opportunity to use scare tactics, demonize the UN and other international organizations then smile when the donations from scared conservatives flow in.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Really just conveys their lack of literacy

The subject concerns export of arms and movement across borders : not the US home market.

Instead of playing with guns maybe they should just learn how to read.