After a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon last month, Barack Obama announced his support for the “Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms” treaty, also known by its Spanish acronym CIFTA. The gun-control treaty was signed in 1997 by former President Bill Clinton, but was not ratified by the Senate as required by the Constitution.

Supporters of the Second Amendment have blasted the agreement as a dangerous infringement on the right to keep and bear arms and another attack on U.S. sovereignty. The agreement would create a national database of gun owners in America that could then be accessed by other signatory nations. It would even provide for the extradition of people found to be in violation of the terms.

“It would clear the way for imposing a national gun registry [and] would overturn the current prohibition on keeping centralized firearms records by the federal government,” explained Larry Pratt, the executive director of Gun Owners of America. “It reflects a deep distrust that the government of the United States has had towards the people.”  The National Rifle Association has also issued a statement indicating that it will “vigorously oppose any international effort to restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding American gun owners."

The treaty has already been ratified by 30 countries out of 34 in the Organization for American States (OAS), including the Dominican Republic, which signed on at the end of April. José Miguel Insulza, the secretary-general of the OAS, noted at the signing that the treaty “particularly stresses the needs for arms control; arms confiscation; regulating authorizations and licenses for export, import and transit; and strengthening controls at export points.” He added that “it was with great satisfaction” that he received the news about Obama prioritizing the treaty. 

"As President Calderón and I discussed, I am urging the Senate in the United States to ratify an inter-American treaty known as CIFTA to curb small arms trafficking that is a source of so many of the weapons used in this drug war," President Obama proclaimed in Mexico City last month. He also incorrectly repeated the errant statistic that 90 percent of guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels come from America. (In actuality, according to ATF special agent William Newell, about 17 percent of guns associated with crime in Mexico came from the United States. And this figure has not been broken down to see how many came from civilian gun shops and how many were purchased from the U.S. military by Mexico's government.) "We're going to be very focused on this. It's going to be a top priority." ABC News quoted an administration official who said that Obama "felt that it was important to push now for the ratification of this treaty because the question of illegal small-arms is of great concern to the countries throughout the hemisphere a[s] it affects their safety.”

Some U.S. senators are already preparing to fight the treaty, including Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. “The President said it is a very high priority for him to get this treaty that takes away our second amendment rights ratified by the Senate,” Barrasso explained. “It is a very high priority for me to make sure that this treaty never gets ratified by the United States Senate, and we will find the votes to defeat it.” Other senators gearing up to oppose the treaty include John Cornyn of Texas and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who said they will oppose the effort due to concerns about U.S. sovereignty and the rights of Americans.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was relatively non-committal, saying; “We must work with Mexico to curtail the violence and drug trafficking on America’s southern border, and must protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights. I look forward to working with the president to ensure we do both in a responsible way.” According to reports, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry supports the treaty. But in order for it to be approved, it must be ratified in the Senate by a two-thirds majority vote.

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Flu-Bird said:

	Another bad treaty Looks like our dictator OBAMA is using this mexican incedent to try and push for a bad treaty that we dont need we ned to oppose such treaties and get ourselves out of the UN and rpeal NAFTA and impeach obama
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May 04, 2009
Votes: +15

emmanuel goldstein said:

	Come and take it.... All I want to say is "COME AND TAKE IT" or "from my cold dead hands"
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May 04, 2009 | url
Votes: +10

MAS1916 said:

Success of Gun Control in Mexico We need to look to our southern neighbor for guidance on successful policy! Mexico has full gun control. That is why it is utterly safe to walk down any Mexican street at any time. And now that the Mexican people have to fight some kind of revolution to throw off the drug cartels, they have nothing with which to do it. The drug cartels and the Mexican government are now one and the same institution. http://firstconservative.com/blog

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May 04, 2009 | url
Votes: +8

john smithson said:

	stop this madness obama is using this border problem as a cover up so he can get aproval to completly outlaw cizilain firearms rights to even responsible gun owners. as free americans it is our right to keep and bear arms and we can't just stand around and let those right we are garenteed by the us constitution just be flushed down the toilet by the democratic liberals in the government.
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May 05, 2009
Votes: +11

us and them said:

	he's coming through the back door He's coming through the back door for your guns using other countries as a excuse to make it look like it's for the good of Mexico. BS.... Ogutless and his lacky Holder will not quit on gun control
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May 05, 2009
Votes: +9

Plain Old American said:

	Inciting a Revolution Any US senator that votes to ratify this treaty does so with the full understanding that it is nothing short of a declaration of war against the US Constitution and the American people.
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May 05, 2009
Votes: +10

JT said:

	... From my cold, dead hands HELL! I plan to take their duty weapons for distribution. I fight to win.
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May 05, 2009
Votes: +7

Chris King said:

	90% - lies lies lies What is with these cronnies. Fire them ALL!
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May 05, 2009
Votes: +6

crazy jimbah said:

	Better Become INFOWARRIORS The globalists are pushing hard. they're gonna be real suprised that the american people push back. Texas secession and I'd actually move back to that HOT SWEATY Republic. but i'd hope that other peoples and territories would join them so i could stay in the Rockies. DEATH TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER. ALEX JONES is the new Partick Henry.
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May 05, 2009
Votes: +6

Flu-Bird said:

	In the tradition of tyrants Vladimer Lennin,Adolph Hitler,Joe Stalin,Mao Si Tung,Fidel Castro all big time gun control advocates so no one could resist being rounded up and sent to concentration camps and the mainstream left-wing news media are their ministers of propeganda and the evil UN is their backers
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May 05, 2009
Votes: +6

Delrio Demon said:

Slippery Slope... Ok, does it seem like all these treaties, laws, and regulations are coming in faster and faster? I realize that it started with Bush Sr, or before, but really... its starting to move at an almost frantic pace! And thanks to the internet, we are able to make the connections to things, that by themselves would seem harmless. For example: Treaty to use foreign troops to confiscate guns without a warrant, and using the GPS coords from the Census. Does that sound pretty far fetched? Look up each piece of the puzzle and then connect the dots... My advice is to save your ammo and have your family start practicing with airsoft or pellet guns, before taking them down to the range. Get your camping, hunting, and fishing equipment in order, where you can reach it quickly. As a former Boy Scout, I know that half the battle is being prepared. I just hope to God that we don't have to take it to the final step.

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May 14, 2009
Votes: +2