Earlier I posted Senator Blunt’s response so here is McClaskill’s
November 28, 2012
Dear Mr. Lefler,
Thank you for contacting me regarding gun ownership and the proposed United Nations
Arms Trade Treaty. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to
respond.
Because of concerns that, under current international rules, small arms traded
internationally could fall into the hands of terrorists or rogue regimes who wish to
harm the United States, in October, 2009, U.S. officials expressed support for the
idea of pursuing an international small arms trade treaty. It was suggested that
such an international treaty could be modeled after U.S. export controls for arms
transfers and further call for regulations similar or the same as those already used
by the United States, thereby not interrupting any current gun laws in the United
States. There is, however, currently no treaty in place or agreed to and a draft
has not been developed.
Nonetheless, in light of concerns about the development of such a treaty, I joined
with Senator John Tester of Montana and a dozen of my colleagues in writing to
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the prospect of an arms
trade treaty. The letter, while supportive of the goal of keeping arms out of the
hands of terrorists, criminals, and rogue states, makes clear that I will not
support any treaty that jeopardizes American sovereignty or our Constitutional right
of gun ownership. I have attached a copy of the letter for you to review.
As you know, the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees Americans the
fundamental right to bear arms. I strongly support legal and safe gun ownership by
law-abiding citizens and have consistently voted to uphold this constitutional
right. For example, I have voted to permit residents of the District of Columbia
to own and purchase firearms, and I supported an amendment to a spending bill that
would prevent funding for any international organization that requires the
registration of firearms or places a tax on any firearm owned by a United States
Citizen. This would include any efforts by the United Nations. In short, I will
not support international efforts that infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment
rights.
Please know that I will continue working to protect the constitutional rights of all
Missourians, as well as preserve the hunting and sportsmanship culture of Missouri.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the
future if I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other issue.
Sincerely,
Claire McCaskill
United States Senator
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McClaskill’s Letter to Obama
The Honorable Barack Obama
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
The Honorable Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
July 26, 201 1
Dear President Obama and Secretary Clinton:
As staunch defenders of the rights of law·abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, we
write regarding ongoing negotiations of the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty, and to express
concerns about any provisions that could potentially infringe upon those rights.
We support efforts to better regulate the international trade of conventional weapons, but
such efforts must be done in a responsible manner. We should do everything we can to ensure
these weapons do not end up in the hands of human rights abusers, terrorist groups, insurgents or
organized criminal enterprises. Further, we should not allow the unregulated trade of these
weapons to continue fueling conflict and instability in nations around the world. The profound
human and economic toll from these conflicts is staggering and the subsequent impact on our
nation’s economic and security interests is increasing. The United States has adopted a rigorous
system of arms export controls and it is time for other nations to abide by some of those same
standards.
For the past few years, negotiations for the Arms Trade Treaty have progressed. As your
Administration continues to engage in these negotiations, we strongly urge you to address a
number of our concerns.
First and foremost, the Arms Trade Treaty must not in any way regulate the domestic
manufacture, possession or sales of” firearms or ammunition. Firearms possession is an individual
right guaranteed by the Second Amendment and that cannot be subordinated, directly or
indirectly, by any international treaty. We are encouraged that your administration is working to
ensure that signatory countries will maintain the exclusive authority to regulate arms within their
own borders. That must continue to be non-negotiable. We also oppose any inclusion of small
arms, light weapons, ammunition or related materials that would make the Treaty overly broad
and virtually unenforceable. Finally, the establishment of any sort of” international gun registry
that could impede upon the privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners is a non-starter.
As members of the United States Senate, it is our constitutional responsibility to advise
and consent on the ratification of the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty. Before we could
support ratification, we must have assurances that our concerns are adequately addressed and that
the Treaty will not in any way impede upon the Constitutional rights of American gun owners.
Anything short of this commitment would be unacceptable.
We appreciate your consideration on this issue and look forward to your response.
Sincerely
“I will not support any treaty that jeopardizes American sovereignty or our Constitutional right of gun ownership.”
This does not mean, I will not support every freaking regulation and tax and penalty we can muster, in order to seriously strangle a gun owner’s ability to use their weapons, including the relabeling of certain groups as terrorists or extremists in order to remove guns and citizenship, thus the ability to imprison or kill in the name of the good new UCSA.