CIFTA Treaty A Threat To The Second Amendment

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The Second Amendment is unequivocally the most important amendment in terms of preservation of our country’s freedom, and keeping us free from tyranny. However, this President and his administration are pushing hard to render the Second Amendment irrelevant.

There is an insidious South American Gun-Control Treaty designed to take our Second Amendment rights away. Mr. Obama is anxious to sign the treaty and get it ratified. It is known as CIFTA, the Inter-American Convention Against The Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and other Related Materials. The Treaty can be found verbatim: http://www.oas.org/juridico/English/Treaties/a-63.html

Every aspect of the treaty introduces major required gun controls, most of which will affect average citizens. The controls go far beyond anything ever attempted by gun-control groups in the United States. None of the proposed gun controls are likely to pass by themselves through Congress. If the treaty is enacted they don’t have to, they become law when the treaty is ratified. The U.S. Government under this treaty gains power to manage firearms almost anyway it would like, without checks and balances. Once signed, many of the restrictions and government intrusions become mandatory, and the full Congress, already cut out of ratification (only the Senate approves treaties) would be cut out of the implementation process entirely.

Top to bottom registration of all firearms, ammunition, ammunition components and other related materials is required if they are “in transit” and records must be kept indefinitely. Vague language in this treaty, and the requirement to comply, are a gun banners dream, and a gun rights advocate’s nightmare.
“ Transit licenses or authorizations” for transfers of firearms are required for imported firearms, and loose language could include the same for all domestic firearms.

Lengthy record keeping is required that directly conflicts with U.S. law, and would be left up to bureaucrats, and arbitrary controls for implementation. Hand loading of ammunition would become illegal and subject to severe sanctions. Government licensing that is undefined, and could include almost any conditions, taxes and limitations, including scrupulous inventorying, record keeping, and unscheduled audit searches of people who reload.

Similar licensing and controls will be required on anything made “that can be attached to a firearm,” known as “other related materials.” This includes components, parts, replacement parts and such items as wood or composite stocks, slings, bayonets, bayonet lugs, sights. Scopes rails lasers, grips. Flash hiders, suppressors, muzzle brakes and other paraphernalia. Attaching any such parts without government license would be “illicit manufacture,” a criminal act with undefined penalties.

Record sharing requirements ensure that any gun-owner data that must be destroyed under current U.S. law can be easily stored aboard, and can be retrieved at will as required under various international “cooperation” clauses.

The aforementioned details are just a sample of some of the insidious purpose of the CIFTA Treaty. It must not happen. Write to President Obama, and your Senators and express your views. Remember if this is ratified it abrogates our rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

God Bless America, and all of you patriots out there in the real America

Hobbit73