Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) warned on Thursday that the United Nations was seeking to violate what he described as the god-given right to have guns through its Arms Trade Treaty, which President Barack Obama has suggested he'll sign next month.
"The right to keep and bear arms is granted by God and protecting [sic] from government aggression by the Constitution," Stockman said in a statement. "It is not subject to the whims of global totalitarians massed in New York City.”
Stockman, an avid supporter both of gun rights and colorful rhetoric, went on to say that it was "beyond time for the United States to withdraw from the UN."
A total of 130 representatives expressed their opposition to the UN agreement on Thursday, sending a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry urging them not to become a party to the treaty.
But while many opponents claim that the treaty is an affront the the nation's sovereignty -- and Stockman went as far as to claim that it would lead to the ban of "many common types of hunting rifles" -- the text of the document is actually focused on reining in the illicit international trade of "conventional arms, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships."
The State Department released a set of "redlines" this year, claiming that it wouldn't sign the treaty unless the following conditions were met:
The Second Amendment to the Constitution must be upheld.
There will be no restrictions on civilian possession or trade of firearms otherwise permitted by law or protected by the U.S. Constitution.
There will be no dilution or diminishing of sovereign control over issues involving the private acquisition, ownership, or possession of firearms, which must remain matters of domestic law.
The statement has done little to allay the concerns of the treaty's skeptics.
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