Obama Administration Endorses New U.N. Arms Trade Treaty

Obama Administration Endorses New U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations

Just as NRA warned would happen, following the election, the Obama administration has moved forward with its plans to support a United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. On Wednesday November 7, the U.S. Mission to the U.N. made clear its support for renewed ATT negotiations, casting a vote in favor of resolution A/C.1/67/L.11. The resolution calls for a "Final United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty" to be held in New York City from March 18-28.
Undeterred by the failure of July's U.N. Conference on the ATT, in recent months the global civilian disarmament groups and their patron governments have been working nonstop to revive the treaty. Most visible were the attempts made by participants at the Second Review Conference of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. At the conference, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon used his time to state, "an arms trade treaty is long overdue… I urge you to redouble efforts to agree on a robust 'ATT' as soon as possible."
The resolution notes that at the March conference, the last draft from the July conference will be the starting point for new talks. Among the draft's most onerous requirements are those intending to burden and keep records on "end users," or gun owners. The draft states that "Each State Party shall maintain national records… Such records may contain… end users" and that "Records shall be kept for a minimum of ten years." If this obligation were to be enacted and followed, it could result in registration for any American that purchases an imported firearm.
Despite the insistence of a U.S. State Department official this summer that ammunition controls are not feasible and would have "significant administrative and financial costs," ammunition remains within the scope of the working draft. The draft states, "Each State Party shall establish and maintain a national control system to regulate the export of ammunition for conventional arms." In the explanation of its vote in favor of the resolution, Mexico made clear that it will continue to pursue its goal of including ammunition within the scope of the treaty.
As in past negotiations, the March conference will require consensus on the treaty's text. This is an important requirement that has served to protect the U.S. from a U.N. tyranny of the majority. However, Mexico has attempted to undermine this vital condition. In a statement during the meetings in which the November 7 resolution was passed, Mexico's representative said, "the goal of consensus should not be interpreted as a right of one or a few delegation to impede a general agreement."
Further, despite the already restrictive wording of the draft treaty, some global gun controllers have insisted it doesn't go far enough. The umbrella ATT group known as the Control Arms Campaign (which includes Amnesty International, the International Action Network on Small Arms and Oxfam International, among others) states that an ATT "must include all weapons, all transfers, and all transactions," and has constructed a wish list to make the treaty more prohibitive. Their stated goal of "finishing" the current draft is even more ominous when you consider that in the past Amnesty International has made clear that "The ATT should not exempt certain small arms (for example, sporting or hunting firearms) from its scope of application." With several nations supporting this position and negotiations over the final text remaining fluid, there is a possibility that the final treaty could be far worse than the current draft.
During the July negotiations, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre made clear to the assembled U.N. delegates that, "Any treaty that includes civilian firearms ownership in its scope will be met with the NRA's greatest force of opposition." The speech was bolstered by letters from a majority of U.S. Senators and 130 Representatives, making clear to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton their opposition to a treaty encompassing civilian arms. Several writers noted NRA's opposition as key to the failure of the July conference. Needless to say, our position will remain the same on any treaty that could adversely affect the rights of American gun owners.

Prison transfers from Colorado City due to fewer guards, official says

The transfer of hundreds of prisoners from the Ware Unit in Colorado City is due to low guard numbers, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
The prison is operating at 53 percent of its guard capacity, said Jason Clark, public information officer for the TDCJ.
At the same time, the Ware was at near capacity for prisoners, said Lance Lowry, president of the Huntsville chapter of the union representing prison guards.
"The agency is reducing the offender population at the Smith (in Lamesa) and Ware Units to help deal with the staffing vacancies," Clark said. "Given the current offender population statewide, the agency has the flexibility to temporarily transfer these offenders to other units without overcrowding those facilities."
On Tuesday, the TDCJ said 400 prisoners would be transferred to prisons statewide. The transfer has not yet been completed.
The Ware Unit has the capacity for 917 prisoners and 155 security employees, according to the TDCJ website.
It was also announced Tuesday that 200 inmates had been transferred from the Smith Unit in Lamesa due to the guard shortage. Those inmates are now being housed in the Ferguson Unit in East Texas.
"Those are certainly two of the units that we are facing some staffing challenges in across the state," Clark said.
He said the guard shortage might be caused by the bustling energy industry in West and South Texas — namely, the cultivation of natural gas and petroleum.
"We've seen an uptick in hiring form the oil and gas industry, which typically tends to pay a higher salary," he said.
But the agency has been upping its efforts to recruits new correctional officers, Clark said. This summer, the agency doubled its signing bonus to $3,000.
"The recruitment and retention of officers remains a top priority for the agency," he said. "The correctional officer position is one of the most challenging positions in state government."

Republican Women that Support Gay Rights

Prior to the Presidential election Texas native and registered Republican Kelly Clarkson, who also loves and supports her LGBT friends, broke ranks with her party, very specifically over the Romney / Ryan tickets antigay stance, and endorsed President Obama. Around the same time Meghan McCain, outspoken Republican and daughter of former Republican Presidential nominee John McCain, announced she would fight for marriage equality as part of the Young Conservatives for Freedom to Marry. Since they are both accomplished, and let’s face it, in our estimation, hot Republican women who support LGBT folks, that got us thinking about other hot Republicans who love us. Here they are. 

 1. Barbara Pierce Bush Former President George W. Bush’s daughter Barbara, one of the Bush Twins, joined New Yorkers for Marriage Equality. "I'm Barbara Bush and I'm a New Yorker for marriage equality," she says in a PSA for the group. "New York is about fairness and equality and everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love. Join us." 

2.Sarah Michelle Gellar Adored by fangirls and boys alike for embodying the kick-ass titular character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which featured one of television’s groundbreaking lesbian couples with Willow and Tara, Sarah Michelle Gellar said at a junket that it drives her crazy when her good friends, gay couples, who’ve been together for 18 years are not acknowledged in the eyes of the law. 

3.Angie Harmon  Lesbians love Rizzoli and Isles, in which Angie Harmon plays a tough-talking cop opposite Sasha Alexander. In 2010 Angie appeared on Chelsea Lately and told  LGBT ally Chelsea Handler that even though she’s a Republican she loves “the gays.” “Since I had come out and said I was a Republican, I needed to come out and tell people that I like gay people,” Angie said. 

4.Susan Lucci One of the timeless divas of daytime Susan Lucci’s All My Children character Erica Kane struggled, like many parents do, when her TV daughter Bianca came out in a benchmark storyline. In her book All My Life: A Memoir Susan says that Bianca’s storyline struck a nerve with her prompting her to become more passionate about LGBT equality.

5. Britney Spears It’s no secret that gay men in particular have long been drawn to pop darling Britney Spears' catchy dance tracks but it’s good to know that she returns the love. When Out magazine asked her about her views on same-sex marriage in 2011 she said, "I think everyone should be treated equally."

6.Elisabeth Hasselbeck Conservative The View co-host has had her share of tiffs with her more left-leaning co-hosts throughout the years including Rosie O’Donnell, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg but when it comes to gay marriage she says she supports it.
"I am not ultra-ultra-conservative on every issue. I actually support gay marriage," Elisabeth said, according to The Huffington Post. 

7. Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty’s been a gay icon since she played Heather Duke in the 1988 cult classic Heathers before she moved on to playing beloved angst teen Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills 90210. In an interview with the Huffington Post this past May Shannen was unequivocal in her support of marriage equality.
“I believe that we live in a free country -- or at least we're supposed to be living in a free country,” Shannen said. “Two men, two women should be able to get married. It's not about your sex, it's about love and commitment. No state has the right to tell someone, ‘No, this is not legal in the eyes of the state.’ That is the most ridiculous statement in the world when you then go and preach that this is a free country. That is mind boggling to me.”


8.  Kelly Clarkson Lesbian rumors have long followed a previously interminably single Kelly Clarkson and while she’s not gay she supports her LGBT fans and friends to the point where she endorsed President Obama in the recent election primarily because of his stance on marriage equality. Since the election Kelly’s even released the infectious “People Like Us,” that could be perceived as her “gay anthem.”

9. Meghan McCain  The outspoken daughter of former Presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, Meghan has always shared her love and support of LGBTs from her hitting up an NRA gun show with Rachel Maddow to recently joining the leadership committee of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry. 

10 .  Jessica Simpson Do a quick search of “Jessica Simpson, gay marriage” online and hundreds of articles exploiting the rumor that her father Joe Simpson is gay will turn up. But the pop, reality and fashion has long been a friend to the LGBTs. In fact, back in 2010, before she found love and became a mama, Jessica told the women of the The View that she and her gay best friend, celebrity hair stylist, Ken Paves – who was in the audience at the time-- had a back-up plan to parent a child together if they didn’t have kids by the time they were 40.