It's Official: The Arms Trade Treaty is Dead

The threat of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is over, for now. On July 27, the U.S. joined Russia, Indonesia, and India in saying they needed more time to think about the pact before going forward, thus negotiations ended. And although this won’t keep the treaty from coming back up should Obama be re-elected, it does means that gun owners can breath a sigh of relief for the next six months.

Following the suspension of negotiations, gun control groups which had been silently waiting in the shadows for the ATT to be ratified lashed out at Obama for lacking “political courage” on this particular issue. And it says something about the real intent of the treaty that some of its strongest supporters were groups like the the Arms Control Association. 

Credit for ending negotiations goes to conservative Senators, who had already made it clear they would not ratify the treaty, to the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, and Tea Partiers throughout the country.

The Arms Trade Treaty is dead for now, and we are free.