Home | All Candidates | Arms Trade Treaty | Arms Sales to Saudi Coalition | Firearms Export Oversight | Mine Ban Treaty
Arms Trade Treaty
The Arms Trade Treaty is the first global accord to regulate nearly all conventional weapons, requiring states to consider multiple criteria in making arms transfer decisions. It entered into force on December 24, 2014, and today has 110 states parties and 31 signatories. The United States signed the treaty on September 25, 2013, but has not ratified it. On April 26, 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump made the controversial decision to "un-sign' the treaty, withdrawing it from Senate consideration, based on arguments that it infringed upon the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Experts to contact*: Rachel Stohl (Stimson Center), Jeff Abramson (Arms Control Association)
* These experts are available to discuss this issue and may have additional/alternate assessments. Inclusion on the Forum on the Arms Trade expert list does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others, or the endorsement of any candidate for political office.
Methodology note: A candidate's position is considered to be "unknown" if they have not explicitly made a statement on the Arms Trade Treaty during this election cycle. A number of candidates have voted for/against earlier measures to block the treaty, and a number of candidates have spoken favorably of many of the principles guiding the treaty without referencing the treaty directly, but those actions/statements alone are not considered explicit support/opposition. Votes on such resolutions and other relevant statements, however, are included on individual candidate pages and summarized below.
Experts to contact*: Rachel Stohl (Stimson Center), Jeff Abramson (Arms Control Association)
* These experts are available to discuss this issue and may have additional/alternate assessments. Inclusion on the Forum on the Arms Trade expert list does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others, or the endorsement of any candidate for political office.
Methodology note: A candidate's position is considered to be "unknown" if they have not explicitly made a statement on the Arms Trade Treaty during this election cycle. A number of candidates have voted for/against earlier measures to block the treaty, and a number of candidates have spoken favorably of many of the principles guiding the treaty without referencing the treaty directly, but those actions/statements alone are not considered explicit support/opposition. Votes on such resolutions and other relevant statements, however, are included on individual candidate pages and summarized below.
Click on each candidate's name for more information.