Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
North Korea, Iran and Syria, and their ally, the National Rifle Association, tried to stop Christmas from coming, but Christmas came anyway. The Grinch merchants of death are having a sad today. U.N. adopts treaty to regulate $70 billion global arms trade:
The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to create the
first international treaty regulating the global arms trade, a landmark
decision that imposes new constraints on the sale of conventional arms
to governments and armed groups that commit war crimes, genocide and
other mass atrocities.
[The United Nations’ 193-member assembly voted 154 to 3 to adopt the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). There were 23 abstentions, including from major arms traders
including China, India and Russia, as well as Qatar and Saudi Arabia,
which are supplying weapons to opposition groups in Syria. The treaty
will not go into force until 90 days after it is ratified by 50 states.]
The U.N. vote was hailed by arms-control advocates and scores of
governments, including the United States, as a major step in the global
effort to enforce basic controls on the $70 billion international arms
trade. But it was denounced by Iran, North Korea and Syria for imposing
restrictions that prevent smaller states from buying and selling weapons
to ensure their self-defense.
The treaty covers a wide range of conventional weapons, including
battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems,
combat aircraft, attack helicopters, missiles and small arms. These
items could not be transferred to countries under U.N. arms embargoes or
to states that promote genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
The
United States, which co-sponsored the treaty, said several U.S.
agencies will conduct a review before the accord is presented to
President Obama for signature. The treaty would require ratification by
the Senate.
The National Rifle Association contended during
negotiations that the treaty would weaken Second Amendment gun rights in
the United States. The powerful gun lobby has pledged to fight the
treaty’s ratification in the Senate.
And how exactly does selling weapons overseas to "governments and armed groups that commit war crimes, genocide and
other mass atrocities" which threaten U.S. global security, weaken Second Amendment gun rights of U.S. citizens here at home in the United States? It doesn't. This is all about the chief lobbyist for the merchants of death, the NRA, ginning up yet another boogeyman argument to keep the profits flowing to their clients, the merchants of death, regardless of how many innocent people are slaughtered in conflicts around the world fed by the global arms trade, and their insatiable appetite for profits blood money.
U.S. officials and several nongovernmental organizations, including
the American Bar Association, have argued that the treaty would have no
impact on American gun rights.
Its specific language recognizes
the “legitimate trade and lawful ownership, and use of certain
conventional arms for recreational, cultural, historical and sporting
activities.”
On Tuesday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry welcomed
the approval of the treaty, describing it as a “strong, effective and
implementable” tool that can “strengthen global security while
protecting the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms
trade.”
* * *
The treaty would require governments to establish a national
record-keeping system to track the trade in conventional arms. They
would also have to ensure that weapons are not illegally diverted to
terrorist organizations or other armed groups. In addition, governments
would conduct risk assessments to determine the likelihood that arms
exports were being used to abuse human rights, particularly against
women or children.
Unless you are an international arms dealer, this treaty will have no effect on you at all. But you can bet that we will hear gnashing of teeth and wailing from the gun worshipers and fetishists living in their delusional paranoia world.