@gop Republicans and @NRA Side With Iran And North Korea, Oppose UN Treaty To Keep Weapons From Terrorists #p2 #tcot

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/05/republicans-side-with-iran-and-north-korea-oppose-un-treaty-to-keep-weapons-from-terrorists/

U.N. Summit on international arms treaty; image @HollandSentinel

Senate Republicans and the National Rifle Association are preparing to side with the likes of Iran and North Korea in opposition to a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that would help prevent weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists and human rights violators.

The United Nations General Assembly passed the international treaty by a vote of 154-3 with 23 nations abstaining from voting. The Tuesday vote marked the first time the U.N. has attempted to regulate the global arms trade in an effort to keep weapons of war from those who would commit acts of terror and human rights violations. The only three countries to oppose the treaty were Iran, North Korea, and Syria.

According to Reuters:

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the vote, saying the treaty "will make it more difficult for deadly weapons to be diverted into the illicit market and … will help to keep warlords, pirates, terrorists, criminals and their like from acquiring deadly arms."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement praising the treaty:

"A strong, effective and implementable Arms Trade Treaty that can strengthen global security while protecting the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms trade."

Kerry also reassured Americans that ratifying it would not affect domestic gun ownership protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

"Nothing in this treaty could ever infringe on the rights of American citizens under our domestic law or the Constitution, including the Second Amendment," Kerry said.

But despite assurances from Secretary Kerry, the American government, the treaty itself, and pretty much the rest of the world that the treaty only seeks to regulate exports of weapons such as tanks, helicopters, rocket launchers, etc, to prevent terrorists and other evil people from getting the latest killing machines on the market, the National Rifle Association is prepared to force their puppets in the U.S. Senate to oppose the treaty. Those loyal puppets, of course, are Republicans, with the exception of a couple conservative Democrats.

Reuters reports:

"The NRA opposes the treaty and has vowed to fight to prevent its ratification by the U.S. Senate when it reaches Washington. The NRA says the treaty will undermine domestic gun rights, a view the U.S. government has strongly rejected."

In order for a U.N. treaty to be ratified in the United States, 67 senators are required to vote in favor. As we all know, getting any domestic legislation to pass the Senate with just 60 votes has been nearly impossible over the last four and half years due to Republican obstruction. That means getting a sane and responsible international treaty that will help keep Americans safe could be dead in the water if the NRA and Republicans have their way.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow explained on her show on Thursday night that Senate Republicans oppose the treaty because they believe an NRA conspiracy theory that this treaty allows the United Nations to take guns away from American citizens. The treaty, in fact, only regulates arms EXPORTS. In other words, guns that America ships to other nations. The treaty doesn't affect domestic ownership of guns at all. It simply prevents traded weapons from ending up in the hands of soldiers from Iran or North Korea, terrorists, mercenaries, dictators, etc… Why would any American oppose that? Watch Rachel Maddow explain the situation in the following video via The Raw Story.

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