After being tipped by a friend and commenter in email to this Lou Dobbs bit of hyperbole about 2nd Amendment concerns and the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and other related Items (CIFTA), I asked around and it appears to be a mixed bag. Even a concerned and informed 2nd Amendment advocate like Instapundit was't certain it would be a problem, especially post Heller.
I eventually went to the NRA site. While not supportive of it, they certainly don't seem to be ringing any alarm bells, as Lou Dobbs was, either. I suspect this testimony by Harriet Babbitt may be at the heart of some reporting that said the NRA participated in any meetings, but that isn't to say they weren't consulted. Given a temperature check of the opposition, I don't sense a groundswell of opposition building. While it's probably fair to oppose it on principle, it doesn't appear to have gun grab written all over it in current form, as some may believe.
The NRA is well aware of the proposed Organization of American States treaty on firearms trafficking, known by its Spanish initials as CIFTA. The NRA monitored the development of this treaty from its earliest days, but contrary to news reports today, the NRA did not "participate" at the meeting where the treaty was approved.
The treaty does include language suggesting that it is not intended to restrict "lawful ownership and use" of firearms . Despite those words, the NRA knows that anti-gun advocates will still try to use this treaty to attack gun ownership in the U.S. Therefore, the NRA will continue to vigorously oppose any international effort to restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding American gun owners.
