WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) cosponsored an amendment (#385) this week to the Senate Budget Resolution for fiscal year 2016 (S. Con. Res. 11) to help protect and preserve the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. The amendment, introduced by U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), would prevent taxpayer funding toward the implementation of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (U.N. ATT) – or any other international organization established to implement the U.N. ATT – before Senate ratification and implementing legislation from both the House and Senate. It is expected to receive a vote today.

“It has been disturbing to watch the Administration reverse U.S. policies, abandon its own ‘red line’ negotiation principles, admit publicly the treaty’s dangerous ambiguity, and hastily review the final treaty text,” Sen. Moran said. “The Senate opposition to this Treaty in the 114th Congress remains strong and continues to grow. I will continue to fight to uphold the fundamental individual rights of Americans by reiterating our rejection of the ATT.”

The U.N. ATT is now in force since more than 50 countries have ratified the treaty. A secretariat of the U.N. Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty oversees the practical and logistical arrangements related to the work of the Conference. In discussions of providing funding to the Secretariat, many nations supported the idea that all signatory countries contribute, of which the United States is one. This would require the United States to contribute 22 percent of the funding – in line with their contribution level to the U.N. as a whole.

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