Evening Update: UN Passes Arms Regulation. Israel Planes Strike Gaza

There are two interesting and highly germane stories in circulation this evening - from Israel to the UN:

U.N. Passes Sweeping International Arms Regulation Viewed By Some As Second Amendment Override

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday signed off on a sweeping, first-of-its-kind treaty to regulate the international arms trade, brushing aside worries from U.S. gun rights advocates that the pact could lead to a national firearms registry and disrupt the American gun market.

The long-debated U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) requires countries to regulate and control the export of weaponry such as battle tanks, combat vehicles and aircraft and attack helicopters, as well as parts and ammunition for such weapons. It also provides that signatories will not violate arms embargoes, international treaties regarding illicit trafficking, or sell weaponry to countries for genocide, crimes against humanity or other war crimes.

American gun rights activists, though, insist the treaty is riddled with loopholes and is unworkable in part because it includes “small arms and light weapons” in its list of weaponry subject to international regulations. They do not trust U.N. assertions that the pact is meant to regulate only cross-border trade and would have no impact on domestic U.S. laws and markets.

Critics of the treaty were heartened by the U.S. Senate’s resistance to ratifying the document, assuming President Obama sent it to the chamber for ratification. In its budget debate late last month, the Senateapproved a non-binding amendment opposing the treaty offered by Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, with eight Democrats joining all 45 Republicans backing the amendment.

'A Dangerous Threat: Texas Attorney Vows To Fight 'Unconstitutional' UN Global Arms Treaty

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Tuesday vowed to use every means necessary to fight the “dangerous” United Nations global arms treaty that was overwhelmingly approved by the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Speaking to a group of reporters on a conference call, Abbott warned that the arms treaty “raises a red warning flag to anyone concerned about the liberties guaranteed to all Americans under the United States Constitution.”

“That flag was raised when the United States agreed to the passage of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty,” he added. “This treaty is a dangerous threat, not only to Second Amendment rights under the United States Constitution, but also erodes our constitutional liberties by placing more of the control of those liberties in the hands of bureaucrats at the United Nations.”

Abbott said he sent a letter to the White House on Tuesday urging the Obama administration to take the appropriate action. However, the Texas attorney general expressed doubt that the administration would actually oppose the implementation of the treaty in the U.S. because it announced that it was pleased with the treaty’s passage.

Additionally, Abbott said Secretary of State John Kerry insinuated the arms treaty is implementable in the United States. Kerry on Tuesday applauded the “strong, effective and implementable Arms Trade Treaty that can strengthen global security while protecting the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms trade.”

Should the Senate actually ratify the U.N. Arm Trade Treaty, Abbott said he would be forced to take swift and certain legal action to “shut down this unconstitutional treaty.”

“It also gives power to the United Nations to impose firearm restrictions that will be run by international bureaucrats, who will not be accountable to the people of the United States,” he warned. “The attempt to use this U.N. platform to establish a registry of weapons in the United States also poses a problem.”

He went on: “We cannot accept a president or the possibility of a Senate that are going to seize our constitutional guarantees to international authorities… We fought and we won a war to protect us from rulers in a distant land trying to limit our rights. We have circled back now to a point where it seems like our federal government is trying to cede our authority away.”

Israeli Planes Strike Gaza For First Time Since Pillar Of Defense

Israeli planes carried out bombing sorties over the Gaza Strip late Tuesday night, responding to rocket attacks out of the Palestinian enclave earlier in the day.

The air force bombing was the first Israeli attack on Gaza since an informal cease-fire was signed between Jerusalem and the Strip’s Hamas rulers in November following an eight-day mini-war to stem rocket fire dubbed Pillar of Defense.

A Hamas spokesperson said the planes struck an area in northern Gaza near Jabal al Rayes, with no injuries. Other reports from inside the Strip indicated an open field east of Gaza City was also struck.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck at least one terror target in Gaza.

The sorties are likely meant seen as a warning to the Strip not to escalate the violence.

Earlier in the day, three missiles were fired at Israel from the central Strip. Two landed inside Gaza and a third struck an open area in the Eshkol region, the IDF said.

Israel Launches Airstrikes On Gaza; First Since Truce

The airstrike followed the firing of a Palestinian projectile from Gaza  which exploded in southern Israel’s Eshkol region on Tuesday. The explosion occurred in an open area, and did not cause any injuries.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Palestinian mortar fired at Israel failed to cross the border, and fell inside the Gaza Strip.

No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the projectiles.

The projectile attack came hours after the remains of a rocketlikely fired into southern Israel during US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel last month were found in a kindergarten in Sderot, according to police.

The rocket’s remains were not located previously because the kindergarten had been closed for the Passover holiday, police added.