United Nations Arms Trade Treaty: Guns, Guns, Guns!

We all want to feel safe but what does it means to be safe and how would you obtain this safety? Guns have been known to be lifesaving and induce a feeling of security. However, they can also be dangerous and evoke immense fear. Because of this, guns are a highly controversial issue. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms from infringement. As an individual who supports the Second Amendment, I figured the blog Senate Wins Big Victory for 2nd Amendment would be an interesting read. 

Recently, the tragic events caused by unstable individuals who used guns to take innocent lives has brought the issue of gun control to the publics attention once again. In this particular blog, Katie Kieffer writes about a multilateral treaty that regulates the international trade in conventional weapons called United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Her blog opens with, “U.S. Senators—both Democrats and Republicans—have pledged to stop Obama’s latest attack on the Second Amendment,” which also happens to sum up the blog nicely. It sounds like a victory for the Second Amendment but what exactly did the U.S Senators save it from? How was the ATT threatening the Second Amendment? 

In Katie Kieffer’s blog, she provides a link to an article called GUN OWNERS: Don’t Let Obama Sign UN Arms Trade Treaty, written by Katie Kieffer herself. This article describes how the Arms Trade Treaty threatens gun owners. Katie claims that a “National Control List” would be established which would enable all governments the ability to know anyone and everyone who owns a gun. Joe Wolverton of The New American shines more light on the ATT reporting, “Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Arms Trade Treaty give the UN the authority to apprehend the right of private citizens to own, buy, sell, trade, or transfer all means of armed resistance, including handguns. Ammunition, parts and components also fall under UN purview.” 

I was convinced by Kieffer and Wolverton, however, because of the bias tones, I was obligated to continue my research for a neutral source which was purely information based. The article Explainer: What Is The United Nations Arms Trade Treaty? could not have a more unbiased title. To my surprise, this article seems to promote the ATT. According to Richard Solash, the ATT seeks to, “Call for potential arms deals to be evaluated in order to determine whether they might enable buyers to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.” And, “To prevent conventional military weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists or organized criminal groups, and to stop deals that would violate UN arms embargos.” Solash uses “human rights records” to describe what Kieffer describes as the “Control List.” 

I found Kieffer’s blog to be very concise and convincing. Additional questions were quickly answered through her effective use of embedded links. Kieffer’s writing was very coherent and informative. I found the official United Nations website requires much improvement. It was difficult to navigate through and I would describe the site as vague and misleading.