U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) applauded the Trump administration for plans to withdraw America from the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
“I commend President Trump for his decision today to formally reject the ATT and to uphold our country’s constitutional protections of civilian firearm ownership,” Sen. Moran said on April 29.
The ATT, which was signed by the Obama administration in 2013, has threatened Americans’ Second Amendment constitutional rights, according to Sen. Moran.
“From its outset, the UN Arms Trade Treaty has represented a threat to the lawful private ownership of firearms in our country, and at no point has it represented a real solution to the illegal export of arms,” said Sen. Moran. “The United States should ratify treaties only when they are in our national interest, clear in their goals and language, respect our sovereignty and do not infringe upon our constitutional freedoms.”
Sen. Moran, along with U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), has led bipartisan efforts in the U.S. Senate to prevent ratification of the treaty and they plan to continue leading a bipartisan majority of the Senate in opposing it.
“The ATT would have opened the door for UN bureaucrats to regulate the purchase of individual firearms and would have required approval from the international body before America could assist our allies, including Israel, Taiwan and South Korea,” Sen. Moran added.
The ATT went into effect on Dec. 24, 2014 and more than 60 countries have ratified the treaty, according to information from Sen. Moran’s office, with many nations supporting the premise that all signatory countries contribute funding for the Secretariat of the UN Conference on the ATT, including the United States, even if they have not ratified the treaty.
Sen. Moran said that the idea likely would have required the U.S. to contribute roughly 22 percent of the funding.
However, in March 2017, Sens. Moran and Inhofe secured language in the National Defense Authorization Act banning funding for the ATT’s implementation.