International Law Development: U.N. Small Arms Treaty
Late last month, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), an international treaty that regulates international trade in conventional arms. Conventional arms encompass a wide range of weapons – everything from guns, tanks, combat aircraft, to warships – but excludes biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. The goal of the treaty is to foster peace and security by limiting arms flow into conflict areas, and ensuring that human rights abusers do not have ready arms supplies. You can find the text of the treaty, along with supporting documents, statements, news and media coverage, on the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty portal.
The U.S. voted with the majority in favor of the Arms Trade Treaty. In an April 2 statement, Secretary of State John Kerry reasoned that the ATT “will help reduce the risk that international transfers of conventional arms will be used to carry out the world’s worst crimes, including terrorism, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. At the same time, the treaty preserves the principle that the international conventional arms trade is, and will continue to be, a legitimate commercial activity that allows nations to acquire the arms they need for their own security.”
Despite this support, it is expected that the ATT will not be incorporated into U.S. domestic law. The ATT falls into the category of “advice and consent” treaties, meaning that the treaty must win a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez made an April 3 statement on the ATT, saying that “if the treaty is eventually submitted to the Senate, as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, I will ensure it receives a vigorous and fair review.”
Domestic opposition to the ATT is strong. Despite assurances from the U.N. and the U.S. administration, Second Amendment advocates worry that the treaty will infringe on national gun ownership and trade rights. The National Rifle Association opposes the ATT, and has released this video special report entitled The Threat of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty.
You have access to many resources for researching international arms trade and related issues. Our International Law research guide includes a tab on treaties. Search Scholar, the library catalog for books on the topic, such as The Arms Trade and International Law [Find it]. Finally, the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law will lead you to recent articles on the topic, such as Traffic in Arms Trade and International Restrictions on the Trade in Small Arms.
