NRA Says UN Arms Trade Treaty 'Gun Registration by a Different Name'

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is warning that the data reporting requirements in the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) amount to “gun registration by a different name.”

The ATT focuses in large part on the movement of “small arms and light weapons” across borders. To control this movement, it openly encourages countries to “maintain records” regarding export, import, and end users. 

As Breitbart News has reported, the language of the treaty is ambiguous and can therefore be construed to keep all types of information on record. Fox News reports that NRA executive director Wayne LaPierre says, “Manufacturers of civilian shotguns would have to comply with the same regulatory process as a manufacturer of military attack helicopters” under the ATT.  

In addition to the ambiguous language, the treaty encourages records for “end use or end [users]” to be maintained for “a minimum of ten years” after the weapons reach their final destination. 

Because of this, LaPierre describes the ATT as “nothing more than gun registration by a different name.” NRA-ILA executive director Chris Cox says the ATT “threatens individual firearm ownership with an invasive registration scheme.”

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.