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.”
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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.
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