On Friday, at the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association, President Donald Trump announced that he was un-signing the Arms Trade Treaty. As he put it, “The United Nations will soon receive a formal notice that America is rejecting this treaty.” He then pulled out a pen and, in front of the entire audience, signed a message asking the Senate to end its consideration of the treaty. I have followed the Arms Trade Treaty closely since 2009, before the formal negotiations for it even began. The treaty purports to require nations to regulate the conventional arms trade. President Barack Obama signed it in 2013, but the U.S. never ratified it. I have no doubt that the president has made the correct decision—and no doubt that he will be hammered for it by the progressive left, who loves to praise the treaty as much as it enjoys blaming the United States. If you would like to read my argument against the treaty, it’s here. More importantly, the White House has released a short statement explaining the president’s decision. It is a model of clarity and accuracy. I doubt that the treaty’s friends will have any time for it, but that is their loss. I would love to see them try to rebut it. A few points about the White House’s statement: It notes that the Arms Trade Treaty is “being opened for amendment in 2020 and there are potential proposals that the United States cannot support.” That is correct. The main such proposal was floated last summer at another U.N. gathering on conventional arms. It involves bringing ammunition fully into the Arms Trade Treaty, meaning that the U.S. would have to track or trace the billions of bullets that are sold internationally. The U.S. opposed this last summer because it is utterly impractical. The White House states that the treaty provides “a platform for those who would seek to constrain our ability to sell arms to our allies and partners.” That is true. Virtually every activist supporting the Arms Trade Treaty proclaims, at the top of their lungs, that it is about stopping U.S. arms sales. It points out that the treaty has “a track record of … being used by groups to try and overturn sovereign national decisions on arms exports.” That is quite right. The statement notes that the British government—which, idiotically, led the push for the Arms Trade Treaty—has gotten its just desserts by being repeatedly sued by activists in the name of the treaty. In its only mention of the Second Amendment, the White House states that, by un-signing, the president has ensured that the treaty “will not become a platform to threaten Americans’ Second Amendment rights.” The treaty’s supporters love to argue that it has nothing to do with curbing the Second Amendment. What they don’t mention is that many opponents of the treaty—myself included—urged them privately to make that clear in the treaty text. They refused to do so. The treaty is not a gun grab, but it is precisely what the White House says it is: a platform that gun control activists could potentially do great damage with. Finally, the White House notes that major arms exporters like Russia and China are not in the Arms Trade Treaty, and that “[t]he [treaty] cannot achieve its chief objective of addressing irresponsible arms transfers if these major arms exporters are not subject to it at all.” That is precisely what the Obama administration said as far back as 2010. It is also indisputably true. I could not have written the White House’s statement any better. It is a slam dunk. I commend the White House for its decision, and for explaining it effectively and correctly. This is not the end of the story of the Arms Trade Treaty. It still has 101 state parties around the world. The U.S. needs to follow up this decision to un-sign by pulling all U.S. funding from the treaty. And there are other bad treaties and institutions of the same type as the Arms Trade Treaty. We should quit them, too. Most fundamentally, while it’s excellent to quit bad treaties, it’s even better not to let them get made in the first place. Far too often, the U.S. finds itself in the position of a hockey goaltender, who just has to stand there and stop shots. If you just let the other guy keep shooting, sooner or later you’re going to get scored on. We need to take hold of the puck, skate down the ice, and put some pressure on the other side. But first things first. The White House has made the right call on the Arms Trade Treaty, and it’s made the right call for the right reasons.<doc-sep>The European Union has warned that US President Donald Trump's rejection of a UN treaty designed to regulate the global arms trade would hamper the global fight against illicit weapons trafficking. "A decision by the US to revoke its signature would not contribute to the ongoing efforts to encourage transparency in the international arms trade, to prevent illicit trafficking and to combat the diversion of conventional arms," said the EU's chief diplomat, Federica Mogherini. "The EU will continue to call on all states, and in particular the major arms exporters and importers, to join the Arms Trade Treaty without delay," she said. Mr Trump has said the United States would not abide by the 2013 treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade, calling it "misguided" and an encroachment on US sovereignty. The US Senate never ratified the treaty after former president Barack Obama endorsed it. Mr Trump said he was revoking his predecessor's signature. Ms Mogherini said the EU viewed the pact - which seeks to regulate the flow of weapons to conflict zones - as key to "contributing to international efforts to ensure peace, security and stability." "All 28 Member States have joined the ATT and are determined in pursuing its objectives and its universal ratification and implementation," Ms Mogherini said. The treaty, which entered into effect in December 2014, requires member countries to keep records of international transfers of weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations or attacks on civilians. While 130 countries originally signed the treaty, only 101 have ratified it. Those include major powers like France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The world's largest arms traders, the United States, China and Russia, have not joined. "Under my Administration, we will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone. We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your Second Amendment freedoms. And that is why my Administration will never ratify the UN Arms Trade Treaty." pic.twitter.com/j1xnuUdX1x — The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 26, 2019 "The unregulated arms trade continues to cause major suffering in many parts of the world, fuelling conflicts, terrorism and organised crime," Ms Mogherini said. "Small arms and light weapons kill around 500,000 people every year, in addition to the victims of other conventional weapons." Mr Trump has already withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement on curbing Earth-warming carbon emissions, signed by most of the world's nations. He has also taken the country out of a multilateral nuclear deal on Iran, as well as a Cold War-era arms treaty with Russia. The EU has hit out at each of these moves, which have soured transatlantic ties and relations between Washington and its European allies in NATO.<doc-sep>US President Donald Trump arrives to speak to the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Source: Evan Vucci via AP PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has announced that the US would not abide by a UN treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade. He called the treaty “misguided” and an encroachment on US sovereignty. The US Senate never ratified the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty after former president Barack Obama endorsed it. Trump said he was revoking his Obama’s signature. “We will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone,” Trump said in a speech to the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis. “We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your Second Amendment freedom,” he said, referring to the constitutional right to bear arms. And that is why my administration will never ratify the UN arms trade treaty. I am officially announcing today that the United States will be revoking the effect of America’s signature from this badly misguided treatment (sic). We’re taking our signature back. The treaty seeks to regulate the flow of weapons into conflict zones. It entered into effect in December 2014. It requires member countries to keep records of international transfers of weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations or attacks on civilians. While 130 countries originally signed the treaty, only 101 have ratified and joined it, including France, Germany and the UK. UN praises landmark achievement The world’s largest arms traders, the US, China and Russia, have not joined the treaty. When asked about Trump’s announcement, the United Nations called the treaty as a “landmark achievement” in efforts to ensure responsibility in international arms transfers. A UN spokesperson said the treaty is “the only global instrument aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the international arms trade”. He said the treaty was “particularly important in present times, when we witness growing international tensions and renewed interest in expanding and modernising arsenals”. The White House said in a statement that the treaty ”fails to truly address the problem of irresponsible arms transfers, while providing a platform for those who would seek to constrain our ability to sell arms to our allies and partners”. “The ATT is simply not needed for the United States to engage in responsible arms trade,” the White House said. Includes reporting by © – AFP, 2019<doc-sep>Nations also need to ensure the weapons they export do not end up being used for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or terrorist acts. If they do find out the arms will be used for any of these, they need to stop the transfer.<doc-sep>
Advertising Read more Indianapolis (AFP) President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States would not abide by a UN treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade, calling it "misguided" and an encroachment on US sovereignty. Trump said the US Senate had never ratified the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty despite his predecessor Barack Obama having endorsed it, and said he would never ratify it. "We will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone," Trump said in a speech to the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis. "We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your Second Amendment freedom," he said, referring to the constitutional right to bear arms. "And that is why my administration will never ratify the UN arms trade treaty." "I am officially announcing today that the United States will be revoking the effect of America's signature from this badly misguided treatment (sic). We're taking our signature back." The treaty, which entered into effect in December 2014, seeks to regulate the flow of weapons into conflict zones. It requires member countries to keep records of international transfers of weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations or attacks on civilians. While 130 countries originally signed the treaty, only 101 have ratified and joined it. Those include major powers like France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The world's largest arms traders, the United States, China and Russia, have not joined. In a statement the White House said the treaty "fails to truly address the problem of irresponsible arms transfers, while providing a platform for those who would seek to constrain our ability to sell arms to our allies and partners." It also claimed that some groups are trying to use the treaty to overturn "sovereign national decisions" on arms exports -- pointing to one effort to block the British government's sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia. "The ATT is simply not needed for the United States to engage in responsible arms trade," the White House said. ? 2019 AFP