Murkowski to President: 2nd Amendment Rights Are Not Negotiable
Senator Joins Opposition to U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Threatening Firearm Freedoms
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Lisa Murkowski today joined a bipartisan coalition of her Senate colleagues to express grave concerns to the Obama Administration about the dangerous potential impacts on Alaskans’ Second Amendment rights posed by the proposed United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty. The treaty being negotiated this week in New York City attempts to address “international arms transfers” and purports to crack down on terrorism and rogue regimes, but could threaten the rights of law-abiding American gun owners.
In the letter Senator Murkowski co-signed from Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, the senators write:
“Our country’s sovereignty and the rights of American citizens must not be infringed upon by the United Nations…Today, the Senate sends a powerful message to the Obama Administration: an Arms Trade Treaty that does not protect ownership of civilian firearms will fail in the Senate. Our firearm freedoms are not negotiable.”
The U.N. conference on the Arms Trade Treaty is taking place this week in New York City. In October of 2009 at the U.N. General Assembly, the Obama Administration reversed the positions of the two previous Administrations and voted for the U.S. to participate in negotiating the Arms Trade Treaty, purportedly to establish “common international standards for the import, export, and transfer of conventional arms.” However, by threatening to include civilian firearms within its scope, the Arms Trade Treaty could restrict the lawful private ownership of firearms in the United States.
