Daines Stands Up for Montanans' Second Amendment Rights, Pushes Back Against Biden's Effort to Increase Oversight, Regulations on Guns

U.S. Senator Steve Daines pushed back against President Biden’s attempt to infringe upon Montanans’ Second Amendment rights by joining the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), an international agreement that would increase international oversight and regulate trade in firearms. Biden’s attempt to join the ATT comes after a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate rejected ratifying it in 2013.

“The vague language of the ATT makes American commitments uncertain, the most concerning of which is the lack of protections for lawful gun ownership which threatens the rights afforded to Americans under the Second Amendment. Further, with an amendment process that only requires a ¾ vote for approval, more intrusive provisions could be applied in the future; legally obligating the United States to comply with international commitments without consent from the Senate,” the letter states. “Under any circumstance, it is inconceivable that the United States would consider subjecting our constitutional right to bear arms to international oversight and interference. For these reasons, we request clarification on your intentions regarding this international accord. Moreover, we urge you to reject the ATT; however, should you have plans otherwise, please know we will unequivocally oppose its ratification in the Senate.”

Read the letter at https://www.daines.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Admin-UN-Arms-Trade-Treaty-Letter.pdf.

This inquiry comes on the heels of reports of a top Administration official stating, “The United States has long supported strong and effective national controls on the international transfer of conventional arms, and the Arms Trade Treaty is an important tool [for] promoting those controls internationally,” at the 7th Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty.