Representatives attending the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in Mexico this week have set up a structure for future conferences on gun control that include a veto-proof decision making process.
According to Reuters, representatives from 130 countries gathered in Mexico, although only 72 countries have fully ratified the treaty. They determined that Geneva will be “the seat of the permanent secretariat for the ATT” and they unanimously decided that unanimous agreements would not have to be reached on gun control decisions going forward.
This gives the body a veto-proof process for making gun control decisions going forward.
Anna McDonald, director of the international gun control group Control Arms, praised the agreed-to decision making process and the role representatives at the conference see for “civic groups.”
On August 23, Breitbart News reported Gun Owners of America’s warning that officials from the Obama administration would be attending the conference, even though the U.S. Senate had not ratified the ATT.
The ATT is ubiquitously aimed at stopping “small arms [and] light weapons” from crossing borders–something which cannot be done without the creation of an international registry. Moreover, framers of the ATT explicitly stated that one of the goals of the treaty is to keep track of “end users” of “small arms [and] light weapons.” To that end, a record keeping system designed to last a “minimum of ten years” is suggested.
Do we really believe a record keeping system instituted for a decade or more will then simply be done away without being spread from treaty signatory to treaty signatory and beyond?
Secretary of State John Kerry signed the ATT on September 25, 2013.
by Awr Hawkins
