UN Arms Treaty: Turning Back the Clock

Apr 5, 2013
Editor's Note: Occasionally we get pieces offered to us from other writers that we believe are provocative, but raise valid points. Today, Student of the Gun's Paul Markel offers his thoughts on the United Nations Treaty on Arms Trade. On Tuesday April 2, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly voted to approve their latest version of the Global Arms Control Treaty. The reported vote was 155 in favor, 3 against, and 22 abstaining or "present" just as Our Dear Leader liked to play it when he was in a the US Senate. The three votes against were North Korea, Iran, and Syria proving once again that bad guys don't like to play by the rules. Major arms makers and sellers, Russia and China, abstained from voting as did Cuba, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. Our courageous US delegate with the blessing of Our Dear Leader voted in favor of the treaty. Sounding rather Hitleresque, the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the vote, saying the treaty "will make it more difficult for deadly weapons to be diverted into the illicit market and ... will help to keep warlords, pirates, terrorists, criminals and their like from acquiring deadly arms." The Mexican delegate chimed in as well issuing a statement on behalf of 98 U.N. member states saying, "...an effective implementation of this treaty will make a real difference for the people of the world." (1) The Details At first glance it might be easy to dismiss anything the U.N. does as their typical third world self-aggrandizement. Certainly, if Russia and China aren't buying it and North Korea and Iran refuse to go along with any agreement, it's just an exercise mutual masturbation, kind of like the Oscars. Those of us who don't own or produce main battle tanks, artillery shells, or ballistic missiles might feel that this treaty really has no effect upon us. But wait, there's more. The treaty does not simply attempt to regulate traditional big military hardware, but it goes so far as to regulate the trade (import and export) of small arms ammunition and firearms parts and components. Yes, one single piece of .22LR is "small arms ammunition". Do you like shooting Wolf or Tula Ammunition? Have you ever purchased a Turkish shotgun? How about the Saiga? Those are all small arms folks and if the nation states sign on andratify the treaty, all those objects will no longer be merely products imported and exported as a part of everyday international commerce but strictly regulated items. Could Lapua matchgrade .22LR be regulated like silencers, select-fire weapons, and belt-fed machineguns? What should scare the pants off of you is the broad-sweeping and sometimes arbitrary language in the treaty. The following wording was added the current treaty "...that the export of conventional arms should be prohibited if they could be used in attacks on civilians or civilian buildings such as schools and hospitals." (2) Literally translated, if a signatory state decided that the Saiga 12 could be used to "attack civilians" it is now prohibited and controlled. Replace the word Saiga with Sarsilmaz, or Sauer, orBlaser, or Benelli, Armi San Maro, Pietta, etc. Hell, "used to attack civilians" could prohibitBlack&Decker hammers or Tojiro kitchen knives. Have you ever seen those babies? They are seriously sharp and scary. Roll back the Clock Sorting through all the fluff, political back-patting, and propaganda, what is the true attempt of the Global Arms Control Treaty? World governments have always controlled the manufacture and sales of traditional military hardware. It's not Remington, Mossberg, or Winchester building main battle tanks or artillery pieces. S&W and GLOCK don't produce jet fighters or attack helicopters the last I checked. Who exactly will a new arms treaty affect? Is Russia going to stop selling arms to Syria? Is China going to cut off whatever African nations have enough oil and diamonds to buy guns and ammunition? Call me a cynic, but I doubt it. It is the small arms and ammunition portion that goes after the primary enemy of all governments; the armed citizen. Don't try to sell me that load about keeping guns out of the handsof terrorists and criminals. Was it not Our Dear Leader who armed the Libyan freedom fighters? How did that work out? Benghazi. Did not the U.S. Justice Department directly facilitate the flow of arms to Mexican drug cartels? Lest I be accused of Barry-bashing, it's not just us. The Soviet Union with the aid and assistance of numerous puppet states fed arms, money, and supplies to "Communist Revolutionaries" (read terrorists) for decades before Ronaldus Magnus finally put his foot down. It would seem that the end game of the U.N. is to do away with the lawful purchase and ownership of small arms and ammunition by non-government personnel (read citizens). Back in the good old days of absolute and unchecked governmental power, before those radicals named Jefferson, Adams, and Washington allowed the peasants to be armed, governments as a rule forbid the ownership arms. It only takes about ten seconds to Google search "civilian disarmament" to discover that restricting the ownership of any weapon; swords, spears, bows, firearms, etc. was the rule for governments wishing to seize and maintain total control over the populace. In the late 18th Centurythose pesky, radicals in the Colonies spread the seeds of descent and tried to encourage the citizen that they could indeed control their own destiny and that in fact government was subject to the will of the people, not the other way around. I must agree with the Mexican delegate's statement that this treaty "will make a real difference for the people of the world." It is a step in the right direction for all of the third worlddespots who love to hang out in New York City enjoying the fruits of American prosperity while at the same time criticizing that same country. The UN Global Arms Control Treaty is a step toward resetting the clock to the wonderful time before 1776, where only the most benevolent governments could possess and control small arms and ammunition. The peasants need to be put back in their place and assume the role of subservient tax-slaves, free from the worries of self-government or personal responsibility. Ah, but we can only hope. Paul Markel © 2013 About the Author Paul Markel is the author of "Student of the Gun; a beginner once, a student for life." now available in paperback from all major booksellers. In addition, Mr. Markel has been a firearms industry writer for twenty years and currently hosts and produces "Student of the Gun" a television show dedicated to education, experience and the enjoyment of firearms. Episodes of Student of the Gun can be viewed by simply going to www.studentofthegun.com and clicking the "play" icon.