UN to restart negotiations on Arms Trade Treaty in March

Submitted by fgadf3232 on Tue, 2012-12-25 13:51

The United Nations General Assembly voted Monday in favor of holding an Arms Trade Treaty Conference in March in order to regulate the multi-billion dollar global industry, a move which the US National Rifle Association (NRA) has been lobbying against for some time.

Negotiations between gun control activists and the UN were postponed last July due to the general elections because the Obama campaign feared that showing support for such a treaty might give former Republican rival Mitt RomneyMitt Romney another reason to attack the incumbent president. However, following the recent string of gun-related tragedies, the NRA has come under intense criticism by the anti-gun groups forcing negotiations to start anew.

On Monday, a resolution was passed by a vote of 133-0 bringing all UN member states back on the table in the hopes of reaching a treaty to establish national regulations by all countries to control the transfer of conventional arms and to regulate arms brokers. States that would approve the treaty would be prohibited from violating arms embargoes, promoting acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. The treaty, however, will not control domestic use of weapons in any member state.

A final round of negotiations will be held in New York between March 18-28.

In a joint statement released by foreign ministers of Argentina, Australia, Japan, Costa Rica, Finland, Kenya and the United Kingdom, the countries involved in drafting the resolution, said that the states have welcomed the decision.

"This was a clear sign that the vast majority of UN member states support a strong, balanced and effective treaty, which would set the highest possible common global standards for the international transfer of conventional arms," they said.

Although the Obama administration has tried to explain to pro-gun activists that the treaty will not impact the sale or ownership of arms with in US, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, told the UN in July that “any treaty that infringes on the precious right of lawful Americans to keep and bear arms," or "any treaty that includes civilian firearms ownership in its scope will be met with the NRA's greatest force of opposition."

Back in July, a large number of US Senators had backed NRA chief’s decision, however, following the recent school shooting in Newtown, Con., which left 26 dead, it remains unclear whether the same level of support will be extended towards NRA this time as well.

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UN to restart negotiations on Arms Trade Treaty in March

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