A strong Arms Treaty won’t take away your guns

by Jasmin Maurer, PEP Director

The NRA has been feeding us lies. And judging by the fact that 53 senators voted to keep Obama out of the Arms Trade Treaty negotiation, it’s obvious that those lies are sinking in.

Allow me to say very clearly, an arms trade treaty will not, and can not, take away your Second Amendment right to bear arms. In fact, it has nothing to do with the gun you’ve got in your closet at all, (although we should probably talk at some point about stricter gun control laws in our country).

This is because a. It is stated in US law that treaties cannot override the Bill of Rights, and b. The treaty itself states that it is the “sovereign right and responsibility of any state to regulate and control conventional arms exclusively within its territory, pursuant to its own legal or constitutional systems.”

What the arms treaty can do is establish legally binding arms export standards for conventional weapons internationally. This would help keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers by putting blocks on how countries can exports weapons to each other.

This type of regulation is strongly needed too. Close to 750,000 people around the world die each year from armed violence. This does not include the thousands more who are injured, raped, or forced from their homes with the aid of weapons.

Regulations on international arms trade won’t magically stop violence, but it can help bring these numbers down. Countries who sign on to the treaty can be held accountable for who they export weapons to, especially if they are selling them to governments known for abuse.

These regulations also won’t infringe upon your rights. They’ll just help us uphold others’ rights abroad to leave a life free from armed violence.