President Donald Trump on Friday announced at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting that the United States will drop out of an international arms treaty signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but opposed by the NRA and other conservative group, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Trump told members of the gun lobby that he intends to revoke the status of the United States as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was never ratified by the U.S. Senate.
“We’re taking our signature back,” Trump said to thousands of cheering attendees, many wearing red hats emblazoned with the Republican president’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
The NRA has long opposed the treaty, which regulates the $70 billion business in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. The lobbying group argues it would undermine domestic gun rights, a view the Obama administration rejected.
Trump said the United Nations would soon receive formal notice of the withdrawal.
The NRA spent $30.3 million in support of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks campaign spending.