Global Courant
The United Nations General Assembly is about to approve a global ordnance management framework this fall that could be dangerously vague and affect domestic policy in the United States, some second amendment proponents warn.
In early June, the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition, also known as the OEWG, completed the development of a new global framework.
The National Rifle Association and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer’s Institute attended all of the OEWG’s meetings and pushed for certain aspects of the international plan to be watered down.
“It’s going to the General Assembly in September. It’s basically a done deal,” James Baranowski, the NRA director of international affairs, told Fox News Digital. “It’s the UN’s way. It’s a game of chess, not checkers.”
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The National Rifle Association is pushing for restrictions on certain aspects of the United Nations plan. (iStock)
The General Assembly passed a resolution establishing the OEWG in February 2022 to deal with the accumulation of excess stocks, which issued a final report this month.
The framework could be used as leverage in the political arena if gun control advocates claim it is a standard of international law, Baranowski said.
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“It could have been a much worse document to start the framework with,” Baranowski said. “Having said that, it will never go away. It is a living document that will be modified. We will have to fight this every year.”
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution establishing the Open-Ended Working Group in February 2022. (Spencer Platt)
The 15 goals of the global framework set standards and guidelines for international cooperation in munitions management, Adedeji Ebo, director of the UN’s Office for Disarmament Affairs, said on June 9, when the working group approved the framework.
“The adoption of the set of political commitments is a tremendous achievement that will no doubt be endorsed by the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly.” said Ebo during his comments.
The goals of the framework focus on reducing the transportation of small arms into conflict zones, preventing unplanned explosions at munitions sites and recognizing women’s greater role in ammunition management, Ebo noted.
Adedeji Ebo, director of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, speaks at a UN Security Council meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York City on October 27, 2022. (Michael M. Santiago)
With pressure from Second Amendment organizations, the task force toned down some terms and removed references to the “individual” end-users of munitions from drafts, Baranowski said. So, at least for now, the framework only applies to governments, not individual ammunition owners.
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Yet the OEWG’s final report does not fully define key terms such as ‘stock’ and ‘end-user’. And under the broad definition, even a box of 25 rounds could constitute a stock, Baranowski argues.
“You see ‘stockpile’ and ‘end user.’ A stockpile could be a million grenades in a government stockpile or it could be a box of 25 grenades in a local police station,” Baranowski said. “It’s limited to governments as it is currently written . We have advocated limiting it. But we think that language will eventually be removed. An attempt has been made to include individual end users.”
Second Amendment advocacy organizations such as the NRA pushed for individual munitions owners to be excluded from the UN framework. (NRA)
The United Nations has not responded to questions about this story.
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But the UN’s Ebo called the framework a “ray of hope for the disarmament community and the peoples of the world who have long suffered the scourge of war and armed violence, exacerbated by mismanagement and illicit flows of conventional munitions.”
“The elaboration of the global framework is truly a milestone in our collective efforts for lasting peace, security and sustainable development,” Ebo added.
