UN Arms Treaty Meets Ratification Threshold as US Lawmakers Criticize Process
The United Nations reached the 50 ratifications necessary to enter the Arms Trade Treaty into force, the UN said in recent days. Eight countries submitted their ratifications of the pact to the UN on Sept. 25. The U.S. is a signatory, but has not yet ratified the treaty and Republican opposition remains strong. On the same day the pact hit the 50 ratifications threshold, two U.S. senators criticized the “closed nature of the preparatory process” for a conference on the pact.
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Mexico held initial formal consultations on the First Conference of States Parties to the UN treaty in early September, and the two senators say the country is working to expand the treaty’s coverage. “The Government of Mexico has long urged that the Arms Trade Treaty should include in its scope the transfer of firearms inside the United States if such transfers could affect other nations, including Mexico,” said the letter, signed by Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and James Inhofe, R-Okla. “If the Arms Trade Treaty were amended as Mexico desires, our worst fears about the Treaty’s impact on our Second Amendment right would be realized.” Moran and Inhofe also pushed Obama to participate in the negotiations with more transparency.
Obama administration officials have urged support for the agreement since Secretary of State John Kerry signed the treaty in September 2013 (see 14073022). Particularly with the expected Republican gains in the Senate during this year’s mid-term elections, the administration will be hard pressed to hit the two-thirds support threshold in the chamber. Fifty senators vowed opposition to the treaty in October 2013 (see 13101703).