On Wednesday from behind the scenes of the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary of State John Kerry will sign an international Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the worldwide trade of firearms, ammunition, and everything in between including battle tanks, combat aircrafts and warships.
The United States voted for the UN-adopted treaty back in April but must still push it through the Senate for ratification before it becomes law domestically. The General Assembly voted heavily in favor of the resolution with a 154-3-23 tally, though only 88 have signed the legislation with only 4 having ratified it.
The U.N. bills the treaty as an agreement meant to “foster peace and security by putting a stop to destabilizing arms flows to conflict regions. It will prevent human rights abusers and violators of the law of war from being supplied with arms. And it will help keep warlords, pirates, and gangs from acquiring these deadly tools.”
According to Reuters via the Huffington Post, President Obama’s address to the 68th U.N. General Assembly in New York “focused on Syria, Iran and other Middle East hot spots” under contention due to constant civil war. The source continues to note that perhaps the U.S. hopes to achieve slightly more in terms of international diplomacy in that the treaty could help to”curtail Russian arms sales to Syria.” Russia has been notoriously bothersome when it comes to all things Syria (at least from the U.S. point of view), wielding its permanent U.N. Security Council membership clout to block any U.N. intervention in the region.
Russia strikingly abstained from voting in the U.N. arms trade resolution in April. Syria voted against it.
The United States Senate will face sure and adamant opposition in powerful lobbying groups like the National Rifle Association, a pro-gun organization aimed at promoting the protection of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the right for citizens to bear arms. Still, the recent tragedy at the hands of a lone gunman at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C.’s front yard could be enough to sway locals and voters in personally adopting the accord.
So far, the only four countries to have ratified the treaty are Iceland, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, and Nigeria.
