WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s withdrawing the U.S. from an arms trade treaty because it’s “badly misguided.” He made the announcement in a speech to the National Rifle Association. The move comes as pro-gun legislation is largely stalled in Congress and Trump is imploring the NRA to rally behind his re-election bid.
President Barack Obama signed the pact, which has long been opposed by the NRA, in 2013. But it has never been ratified by U.S. lawmakers.
The United Nations says the Arms Trade Treaty that the U.S. is exiting is “a landmark achievement in the efforts to ensure responsibility in international arms transfers.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric was responding to Friday’s announcement by President Donald Trump that he is asking the Senate to halt ratification of the treaty.
It is the first legally binding treaty to regulate the international trade in conventional arms and was overwhelmingly approved by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly in April 2013. It has been ratified by 101 countries.
Dujarric says the treaty “is the only global instrument aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the international arms trade.”
He says, “This is particularly important in present times, when we witness growing international tensions and renewed interest in expanding and modernizing arsenals.”
