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villager

(26,001 posts)
Tue Mar 10, 2015, 02:34 PM Mar 2015

The NRA’s stranglehold threatens the whole world ("It's true mission: Corporate lobbying")

The organization’s resistance to international arms control reveals its true mission: corporate lobbying

by Scott Beauchamp

The National Rifle Association’s outsize influence on American politics, including its notorious suppression of universal background checks and further research into gun violence, is well known. But it may come as a surprise that the NRA influences U.S. foreign policy as well — specifically, the implementation of international treaties.

Most guns used in armed conflicts aren’t manufactured in the combat zones where they end up. They are made in more developed countries and then shipped elsewhere. This process is possible because of a lack of global cooperation in regulating arms shipments. As Oxfam has pointed out, there are more international laws governing the trade of bananas than governing guns. Governments simply don’t know when guns are being sold, where they’re going or how they’re going to be used.

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the United Nations’ bid to assert some semblance of control over the unregulated $85-billion-a-year international arms market. As Reuters described it, the treaty “aims to set standards for all cross-border transfers of conventional weapons, ranging from small firearms to tanks and attack helicopters. It would create binding requirements for states to review cross-border contracts to ensure that weapons will not be used in human rights abuses, terrorism, violations of humanitarian law or organized crime.”

Most observers, including representatives of the 130 nations that have already signed, welcomed the effort to track where weapons are going and how they are used. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the ATT a “significant step” in making the world a safer place. Only three countries opposed the treaty: Syria, Iran and North Korea.

Enter the NRA, one of the most powerful pressure groups in Washington, with over 5 million members and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year. Even though the ATT would not regulate domestic sales, the NRA vehemently opposes U.S. ratification of the treaty. It charges that that the ATT would create a worldwide gun registry and transfer power from Congress to the U.N. But for all intents and purposes, the U.S. already tracks overseas sales of guns, and the ATT would not automatically create a registry of individual owners. Congressional authority to approve treaties hasn’t been impinged; the treaty, after all, will take effect only if it’s ratified by the Senate.

<snip>

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/3/the-nras-stranglehold-threatens-the-whole-world.html

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NoJusticeNoPeace

(5,018 posts)
1. This is my favorite part of the article.
Tue Mar 10, 2015, 02:37 PM
Mar 2015
As Oxfam has pointed out, there are more international laws governing the trade of bananas than governing guns.




NRA is a terrorist organization for profit. They promote laws that make it easier for terrorists and murderers to do what they do.
 

villager

(26,001 posts)
2. That is a great line. I'd thought of pulling it out, too. Thanks for highlighting. And yes,
Tue Mar 10, 2015, 02:41 PM
Mar 2015

the NRA is, truly, a terrorist organization. The threat of violence lurks behind everything they do.

And is lurking ever less, in the ongoing hysteria of their pronouncements and policy positions.

GGJohn

(9,951 posts)
4. The NRA is a terrorist organization?
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 12:46 AM
Mar 2015

Millions of Americans and the courts vehemently disagree with you.
I loath the NRA and it's board members, but it's certainly not a terrorist org. except in your mind.

Oh, and BTW, neither does the Obama Admin. think it's a terrorist org, otherwise it would be on the terrorist watch list or banned.
 

villager

(26,001 posts)
5. You are free to bring up your NRA apologetics with the author of the op-ed
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 12:48 AM
Mar 2015

meanwhile, thanks for keeping the post kicked!

GGJohn

(9,951 posts)
6. So pointing out the the NRA isn't a terrorist org is now being an
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 12:53 AM
Mar 2015

NRA apologist?

You're the one labeling it a terrorist org, so I'm addressing you.

 

villager

(26,001 posts)
7. They do foment stochastic terrorism, yes. I suppose next you'll say these poor
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 02:51 PM
Mar 2015

misunderstood folks aren't corporate lobbyists either?

GGJohn

(9,951 posts)
9. Of course they're corporate lobbyists, as are hundreds of other organizations,
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 08:42 PM
Mar 2015

the fact that they've been very successful doesn't make them a terrorist organization, not even the Obama Admin believes that.

GGJohn

(9,951 posts)
11. No, they're not.
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 10:50 PM
Mar 2015

Just because YOU say so, doesn't make it so.
Let's review, the DHS hasn't listed them, the FBI hasn't listed them, the ATF hasn't listed them, the Obama Admin has never referred to them as a terrorist org, so, given that, it's a safe bet that it's YOUR opinion only, not one shared by many in this country.

GGJohn

(9,951 posts)
13. That's right, I'm defending them against your ridiculous allegation.
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 11:15 PM
Mar 2015

And, just for the record, I loath the NRA and their board members, but I won't label them a terrorist org because they don't come close to that.

GGJohn

(9,951 posts)
15. Seriously?
Wed Mar 11, 2015, 11:21 PM
Mar 2015

MotherJones? The same MotherJones that's so anti 2A it's hilarious? That MotherJones?

Who, in any position of authority, has listed the NRA as a terrorist organization?

Response to villager (Original post)

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