Wall Street Journal Notes The Problem with the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty

Today's Wall Street Journal Editorial Page notes the main problem with the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty - the worlds thugs will not comply:

Sadly, most of the world's constitutions contain no individual right to bear arms. Which brings us to one of the more alarming aspects of the treaty: While it affirms states' rights to self-defense, the text makes no mention of civilians' rights to defend themselves. The result is to strengthen the grip of governments on the international flow of arms.

No wonder strongmen across Africa were among the treaty's loudest cheerleaders. Take Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe: His representatives have stressed the need for "stringent import and export control systems that deal with all aspects of diversion of the arms into the hands of non-state actors." Other African leaders claim they need the treaty to check arms trafficking among terrorist and organized criminal groups.

Yet the likelihood that al Qaeda in the Maghreb or Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda are going to find themselves starved of weapons thanks to the treaty's reporting requirements is zero. What the treaty will do is commit its signatories to establish a "national control system" to monitor, track and regulate everything from tanks to gunships to small arms—and their parts.

And also note, that line in the treaty that the Journal mentions that supposedly protects the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans, is in the preamble of the treaty, which is no protection at all.  Therefore, the individual right to keep and bear arms is not protected.