Arms control champions say Republican restrictions on UN treaty go too far

By Julian Pecquet - 06/26/12 11:52 AM ET

Advocates of an international arms sales treaty being written in the United Nations next month say they agree it shouldn't affect U.S. gun rights but that Republican demands go too far.

In a speech before the Heritage Foundation last week, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) outlined several caveats he wants written into the treaty, including that it not apply to civilian arms and ammunition. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, a coalition of human rights and evangelical groups said those restrictions would gut the treaty.

“This is where we part ways,” said Scott Stedjan, senior adviser for Oxfam America. “What is a civilian arm is a real concern. I don't think anybody wants the United Nations to define what is a civilian weapon is, what a military weapon is, because different countries have different views. That would never happen, plus small arms and light weapons are the weapons that … are wreaking the most havoc and that we most need control over.”

Proponents say the treaty aims craft “common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional weapons” that would guarantee that the rest of the world adopt high standards of transparency similar to the ones already in place in the United States. The treaty is not expected to come before the U.S. Senate before next year at the earliest, if U.N. members can reach consensus on a document by the end of July.

Galen Carey, the vice-president of government relations for the National Association of Evangelicals, said his group wouldn't be part of the coalition pushing for the treaty if it believed there were Second Amendment concerns with it. And Frank Januzzi, head of the Washington office of Amnesty International USA, said he's hopeful the public will come to realize the treaty will be written in a way that aims to curb international weapons sales to terrorists and rogue regimes.

“There's an element here of political theater, but they're also laying down a marker with regard to the Second Amendment,” he said. “The good news on that is, we agree. We don't support a treaty that will in any way infringe on the Second Amendment rights of Americans.

“There's no one in the administration, no one who is advocating for this treaty that would be arguing for a position that would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of American citizens.”