While the United States is typically set apart from other countries when it comes to gun laws, a recent conference with the United Nations has raised major red flags, as the U.S. agreed to enact "full implementation" of an international agreement on gun control that will violate Americans' constitutional rights by adding their personal information to a global database.

The Third Review Conference (RevCon) of the United Nations' Program of Action (PoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons was held in New York last week with a 2018 agreement, which states that its purpose is to serve as "a renewed commitment to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."

"We, the States participating in the third United Nations Conference to review progress made in the implementation of the Program of Action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, convened at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 18 to 29 June 2018 to review progress made in implementation and identify priorities for strengthened implementation, reaffirm our commitment to the full and effective implementation of all of the provisions of the Program of Action and the International Tracing Instrument, with a view to ending the human suffering caused by the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons."

The agreement states that it will act as an "international instrument to enable states to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner," light arms and small weapons, while "bearing in mind the different situations, capacities, and priorities of States and regions." All the while, it will be tracking "progress made in the implementation of the International Tracing Instrument; noted the challenges to the implementation of the Instrument, whether continuing, recent or emerging."

The conflict and post-conflict situations addressed by the agreement include the need for "disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs and community violence reduction programs," along with international instruments, such as, "regular inventories, surplus disposal, including through destruction, and the implementation of appropriate measures when losses are detected."

The agreement also listed management and security measures that would include "marking, record-keeping and, as appropriate, tracing by law enforcement authorities, for illicit small arms and light weapons that are found, seized, or recovered in conflict and post-conflict situations." 

In order to implement the agreement on a national level, the Program of Action lists a series of requirements for each government to follow:

To establish or strengthen national laws, regulations and administrative procedures in support of the full and effective implementation of the Program of Action.

To strengthen coordinated national approaches for the implementation of the Program of Action, including, as appropriate, the establishment or designation of national coordination agencies or bodies involving relevant government agencies, including those responsible for law enforcement, border control and export and import licensing.

To promote the full participation and representation of women in mechanisms relating to the implementation of the Program of Action and to encourage strong cooperation with civil society, parliamentarians, industry and the private sector.

To establish or designate a national point of contact to act as a liaison between States on matters relating to the implementation of the Program of Action, and to share and update this information regularly, and to provide the point of contact with the necessary means to carry out its role.