muleman
08-03-2012, 11:46 AM
UN Gun Treaty on Hold, but Democrats Persist
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." --Patrick Henry http://image.patriotpost.us/2012-08-03-digest.jpg
Throughout July, the United Nations worked to hammer out the details of its Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) (http://patriotpost.us/editions/14116). We and many other liberty-loving organizations oppose the document because it threatens the Second Amendment rights of American citizens. It's cloaked in the feel-good language of preventing illicit arms trade, but its solution is, essentially, to register all guns with the UN. The good news is that the UN failed to adopt the treaty. The bad news is that's not the end of it.
Action was indefinitely suspended after the United States and a few other countries asked for more time to consider it. However, when the UN General Assembly reconvenes in September, it could renew a negotiation schedule for the treaty, or it could declare it open for signature. The UK, France, Germany and 87 other nations argue that the treaty is ready, saying the "compromises" reached had "overwhelming support of the international community," and they all but blamed Barack Obama and the U.S. for its failure.
Suzanne Nossel, executive director of Amnesty International USA, blasted the White House, saying, "This was stunning cowardice by the Obama administration, which at the last minute did an about-face and scuttled progress toward a global arms treaty, just as it reached the finish line." The truth is, as Obama told then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier this year on missile defense, the president hopes to have more "flexibility" after his re-election.
If Obama signed the treaty now, it would fail in the Senate because 51 senators already signed a letter (http://moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=9cd86202-9498-47ca-8b8d-534bf60b52f7) opposing ratification. Democrats are extremely unlikely to add to their Senate majority in November -- in fact, they're more likely to lose it. So what's Obama's end-game?
Simple: He's reset his sights (http://patriotpost.us/alexander/14234) on the Second Amendment. The groundwork for his desired assault was laid in Operation Fast and Furious, a now well-known charade concocted to bolster the false claim that American weapons were the cause of Mexican drug-gang violence and, therefore, needed to be more tightly regulated.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, released their first of three reports (http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/7-31-12-FF-Part-I-FINAL-REPORT.pdf) on Fast and Furious this week. The report implicated three Justice Department officials and five ATF agents. William Hoover, No. 2 at ATF, is no longer employed there. Two more final reports will highlight "the devastating failure of supervision and leadership" at the Obama Justice Department, as well as an "unprecedented obstruction of the [congressional] investigation by the highest levels of the Justice Department, including the attorney general himself."
Meanwhile, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) used the Aurora, Colorado, shooting as an excuse to introduce legislation that would effectively outlaw the online purchase of ammunition. The Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act would live up to its name by requiring that ammo buyers who aren't dealers must present photo ID at the time of purchase. Several Democrat senators likewise attached an amendment to an unrelated bill banning magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds.
Make no mistake, the Left will take every opportunity, employing any and every excuse, to take away our Second Amendment rights. Remember that when you go to the polls in November.
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." --Patrick Henry http://image.patriotpost.us/2012-08-03-digest.jpg
Throughout July, the United Nations worked to hammer out the details of its Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) (http://patriotpost.us/editions/14116). We and many other liberty-loving organizations oppose the document because it threatens the Second Amendment rights of American citizens. It's cloaked in the feel-good language of preventing illicit arms trade, but its solution is, essentially, to register all guns with the UN. The good news is that the UN failed to adopt the treaty. The bad news is that's not the end of it.
Action was indefinitely suspended after the United States and a few other countries asked for more time to consider it. However, when the UN General Assembly reconvenes in September, it could renew a negotiation schedule for the treaty, or it could declare it open for signature. The UK, France, Germany and 87 other nations argue that the treaty is ready, saying the "compromises" reached had "overwhelming support of the international community," and they all but blamed Barack Obama and the U.S. for its failure.
Suzanne Nossel, executive director of Amnesty International USA, blasted the White House, saying, "This was stunning cowardice by the Obama administration, which at the last minute did an about-face and scuttled progress toward a global arms treaty, just as it reached the finish line." The truth is, as Obama told then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier this year on missile defense, the president hopes to have more "flexibility" after his re-election.
If Obama signed the treaty now, it would fail in the Senate because 51 senators already signed a letter (http://moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=9cd86202-9498-47ca-8b8d-534bf60b52f7) opposing ratification. Democrats are extremely unlikely to add to their Senate majority in November -- in fact, they're more likely to lose it. So what's Obama's end-game?
Simple: He's reset his sights (http://patriotpost.us/alexander/14234) on the Second Amendment. The groundwork for his desired assault was laid in Operation Fast and Furious, a now well-known charade concocted to bolster the false claim that American weapons were the cause of Mexican drug-gang violence and, therefore, needed to be more tightly regulated.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, released their first of three reports (http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/7-31-12-FF-Part-I-FINAL-REPORT.pdf) on Fast and Furious this week. The report implicated three Justice Department officials and five ATF agents. William Hoover, No. 2 at ATF, is no longer employed there. Two more final reports will highlight "the devastating failure of supervision and leadership" at the Obama Justice Department, as well as an "unprecedented obstruction of the [congressional] investigation by the highest levels of the Justice Department, including the attorney general himself."
Meanwhile, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) used the Aurora, Colorado, shooting as an excuse to introduce legislation that would effectively outlaw the online purchase of ammunition. The Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act would live up to its name by requiring that ammo buyers who aren't dealers must present photo ID at the time of purchase. Several Democrat senators likewise attached an amendment to an unrelated bill banning magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds.
Make no mistake, the Left will take every opportunity, employing any and every excuse, to take away our Second Amendment rights. Remember that when you go to the polls in November.