"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." --Patrick Henry

Throughout July, the United Nations worked to hammer out the details of its Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). We and many other liberty-loving organizations oppose the document because it threatens the Second Amendment rights of American citizens. It's cloaked in the feel-good language of preventing illicit arms trade, but its solution is, essentially, to register all guns with the UN. The good news is that the UN failed to adopt the treaty. The bad news is that's not the end of it.

Action was indefinitely suspended after the United States and a few other countries asked for more time to consider it. However, when the UN General Assembly reconvenes in September, it could renew a negotiation schedule for the treaty, or it could declare it open for signature. The UK, France, Germany and 87 other nations argue that the treaty is ready, saying the "compromises" reached had "overwhelming support of the international community," and they all but blamed Barack Obama and the U.S. for its failure.

Suzanne Nossel, executive director of Amnesty International USA, blasted the White House, saying, "This was stunning cowardice by the Obama administration, which at the last minute did an about-face and scuttled progress toward a global arms treaty, just as it reached the finish line." The truth is, as Obama told then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier this year on missile defense, the president hopes to have more "flexibility" after his re-election.