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Senate Wins Big Victory for 2nd Amendment
Townhall.com ^ | October 21, 2013 | Katie Kieffer

Posted on 10/21/2013 5:00:41 AM PDT by Kaslin

Tired of depressing news? Smile, because here is some very positive news: 50 U.S. Senators—both Democrats and Republicans—have pledged to stop Obama’s latest attack on the Second Amendment.

Last week, all 50 senators wrote a letter to Obama pledging not to ratify the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty. In order for this treaty to be ratified, it would need 60 “yay” votes in the Senate. This means, gun owners will not need to forfeit their God-given right to self-defense and President Obama is on notice that his latest attack on the Second Amendment is dead on arrival in the Senate.

This fall, the Obama administration signed the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty. As I warned gun owners in August, this treaty undermines your Second Amendment rights, places international law on a pedestal above our Constitution and encourages the creation of a national gun registry.

Obama pledged that he would never sign the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty. In October of 2009, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the U.S. would only enter the Arms Trade Treaty by “the rule of consensus decision-making.” However, these 50 U.S. Senators write that Obama broke this pledge, because: “in April 2013, after the treaty failed to achieve consensus, it was adopted by majority vote in the U.N. General Assembly. We fear that this reversal has done grave damage to the diplomatic credibility of the United States.”

These 50 senators write that this treaty: “encourages governments to collect the identities of individual end users of imported firearms at the national level, which would constitute the core of a national gun registry.” This means that Obama broke another promise to the American people by signing this treaty. On March 25, 2013, his spokesman told the press that Obama was absolutely not working to create a national gun registry. Apparently, he was.

U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe sponsored an amendment in the Senate to show opposition to the treaty. Now, this letter is a further sign that the U.S. Senate will not allow our President to subvert both the Second Amendment and our ability to, as this letter states: “conduct our own foreign policy.” Obama’s own State Department has called the treaty “ambiguous” and so senators are very concerned that the terms of the treaty would severely restrict our ability to exercise our national sovereignty and conduct our own foreign policy. This treaty would effectively put global bureaucrats in charge of micromanaging our interactions with our own allies.

Here are the names of the 50 U.S. Senators who courageously took a stand for your freedom against the Obama administration:

Sen. Lamar Alexander, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Sen. John Barrasso, Sen. Mark Begich, Sen. Roy Blunt, Sen. John Boozman, Sen. Richard Burr, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Sen. Jeff Chiesa, Sen. Daniel Coats, Sen. Tom Coburn, Sen. Thad Cochran, Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Bob Corker, Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. Mike Crapo, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. Deb Fischer, Sen. Jeff Flake, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Kay Hagan, Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Dean Heller, Sen. John Hoeven, Sen. James Inhofe, Sen. Johnny Isakson, Sen. Mike Johanns, Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Mary Landrieu, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Joe Manchin III, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Jerry Moran, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Rob Portman, Sen. Mark Pryor, Sen. James Risch, Sen. Pat Roberts, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Tim Scott, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Sen. Richard Shelby, Sen. John Thune, Sen. Pat Toomey, Sen. David Vittor, Sen. Roger Wicker

If your senator is one of the above 50 who signed this letter to Obama, please write to them and say “thank you” for standing up for your natural, God-given right to self-defense as well as our country’s right to manage our own foreign policy.

Gun owners like you have been speaking up loudly and clearly against this treaty. By speaking out, you have encouraged these 50 Senators to take a strong stand for freedom. Even though this treaty is now dead on arrival in the Senate, if your senator is not one of these 50, you should write him or her and encourage them to get on-board. All Americans need to be on the same team: Team Freedom.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: armstradeamendment; banglist; guncontrol; guns; secondamendment; uselessnations
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To: Kaslin

As if Senate ratification means anything to Team Soetoro. The NSA probably has every 4473 on file already.


21 posted on 10/21/2013 5:39:42 AM PDT by DTogo (High time to bring back The Sons of Liberty !!)
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To: Kaslin

Nice but Obummer has already ordered the ATF to block shipments of surplus ammo and surplus firearms from foreign countries. He doesn’t need the Senate to approve when he can do this.


22 posted on 10/21/2013 5:41:32 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (From time to time the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.)
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To: Kaslin

Implied in the article and story is that a Treaty can nullify the 2nd Amendment. Sorry GOPe and Dems, its SETTLED LAW a treaty inconsistent with the Constitution is null and void.


23 posted on 10/21/2013 5:43:07 AM PDT by Mechanicos (When did we amend the Constitution for a 2nd Federal Prohibition?)
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To: Alas Babylon!
Not all Republicans signed the letter. The RINO from TN Bob Corker' signature is missing, and it's no wonder.

Here as a screen grab of his Interest Group rating in vote.org on guns


24 posted on 10/21/2013 5:43:13 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Venturer

17 votes. It takes 67 votes to ratify a treaty and a treaty cannot supersede the Constitution.


25 posted on 10/21/2013 5:44:17 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (From time to time the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.)
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To: Kaslin

if they can block the treaty, they should vote it down rather then posturing about it. this is a plot by some of these senators to get concessions frim the white house. if they really were against teh treaty, they’d be calling for a vote today while they have the votes to shoot it down, not wait for the white house to pressure some of them to crack.

vote it down NOW! once and for all.


26 posted on 10/21/2013 5:45:02 AM PDT by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Thank You I am not too bright about such things, I only know that there are 50 who did not sign, and that is not good.


27 posted on 10/21/2013 5:45:51 AM PDT by Venturer (Keep Obama and you aint seen nothing yet.)
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To: Venturer

The biggest problem is this Treaty is sitting on the shelf of the Senate. It does not have to be introduced in committee and etc process. If enough anti gunners get elected in the future, all they have to do is pull the Treaty from the bin it has been sitting all and vote to ratify it. IAW from this point on, it is a sword hanging over gunowners heads waiting for another major shooting to introduce it onto the Senate floor for a vote.


28 posted on 10/21/2013 5:49:50 AM PDT by Fee
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To: Kaslin

Need to watch the end run of the Law of the Sea Treaty as well. They have been trying push this pos treaty for over 25 years.


29 posted on 10/21/2013 6:09:28 AM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: Kaslin

IT figures both Mike Bennett and Mark Udall are not among the Americans. Michael Bennett wrote me when the 17%make the american People feel the pain Communist dialectic shutdown /pony and prostitute how in DC was over that my Government had failed me. His actions as Senator suggest he is part of the problem -but I made a vow to NEVER vote for another Democrat Ever unless Jesus Christ came to me and commanded it.
so I am not numbered among the beguiled.


30 posted on 10/21/2013 6:12:33 AM PDT by Robert Burkholder
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To: Robert Burkholder

The anti-Freedom subhuman insects are persistent...aren’t they? ONLY 50 senators signed this letter. The rest of the senators are being treasonous. Didn’t these bums take an oath to defend the Constitution? Treason. Traitors.


31 posted on 10/21/2013 6:38:59 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: Kaslin
"it would need 60 “yay” votes in the Senate."

This is a dangerous statement that liberals are making right now, that there isn't enough votes in the Senate so pay no attention to this treaty.

However, the US Constitution only says that 2/3rds of THOSE SENATORS PRESENT need to ratify a treaty and it says only 51 Senators must be present to hold a vote, so...

ONLY 34 SENATORS MUST VOTE FOR THIS TREATY AND THEY HAVE THOSE VOTES!

They only need to find a means to have only 51 Senators present or 2/3rds concur through silence, and they have done this before. They hold votes when members are out of DC at the end of the year, or at night, or on weekends. The Senate has even tried the "unanimous consent" routine whereby they declare everyone present and without any objection they pass the treaty. Many bills pass through the UC routine whereby they do not want a recorded vote so they simply declare the bill having passed by "unanimous consent" if no one objects. This also has the effect that someone that declares publicly they are against a bill but secretly for it or of no backbone to oppose it can quietly claim it was passed without their support even though they were there and did not object.

32 posted on 10/21/2013 6:53:19 AM PDT by CodeToad (Liberals are bloodsucking ticks. We need to light the matchstick to burn them off. -786 +969)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

“It takes 67 votes to ratify a treaty “

No, it doesn’t. It can take as little as 34 votes and they have those votes.


33 posted on 10/21/2013 6:55:55 AM PDT by CodeToad (Liberals are bloodsucking ticks. We need to light the matchstick to burn them off. -786 +969)
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To: Fee

We have to make sure anti gunners will not be elected. Sitting at home bitching and complaining and not voting will not help us


34 posted on 10/21/2013 7:00:18 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Yo-Yo

This is why we must make sure not only to get the majority in the Senate back, but the Super majority. I have been preaching that during the 2012 election, but no one listened to me


35 posted on 10/21/2013 7:05:21 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Robert Burkholder

They are both anti gun rights and you expected them to sign the letter? Get real


36 posted on 10/21/2013 7:13:28 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Red in Blue PA

“My question is....ONLY 50 SIGNED THE LETTER?

So 50 are in favor of not upholding their oaths to the Constitution.

Throw them out! TODAY!”

It also means that the Rat King needs to only NSA (blackmale) 10 senators to get what he wants to pave the way for his president for life with Mugabe like powers.


37 posted on 10/21/2013 7:15:07 AM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah, so shall it be again,")
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To: Kaslin

“In order for this treaty to be ratified, it would need 60 “yay” votes in the Senate.”

Uh no it would take 67 votes.


38 posted on 10/21/2013 7:52:31 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Kaslin

The next Republican president needs to kill these previously signed, but never affirmed by the senate treaties.

Importantly, a Republican president and congress has to clean up the law about what presidents can do with treaties, and what they cannot do.

1) In past, presidents have claimed that significant foreign agreements “did not rise to the level of a treaty”, so did not need to be confirmed or even reviewed by the senate. While this *does* apply to really petty stuff, what *exactly* it applies to, and what it does not needs to be put into law.

2) Presidents have gotten into the habit, with foreign complicity, of signing treaties *first*, which means it applies to the US, before even seeking senate approval. This needs to end now. The president should be prohibited from signing any treaty until it is ratified by the senate.

3) Treaties are so powerful that they should have to run the gamut of US senate scrutiny. Whatever process they are using now is not long or detailed enough.

4) The senate needs to review all existing treaties in a slow and methodical process, to see if they need updating, correction, or abrogation. If necessary, they should ask the president to contact the other signatories if treaties need to be reopened for modification.


39 posted on 10/21/2013 7:53:55 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Welfare is the new euphemism for Eugenics.)
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To: Kaslin
In order for this treaty to be ratified, it would need 60 “yay” votes in the Senate

67.

40 posted on 10/21/2013 7:54:22 AM PDT by Jim Noble (When strong, avoid them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.)
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