One week after a lone gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring many more, a coalition of law enforcement groups joined together to call for harsher restrictions on gun sales, including background checks on all buys and a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines. "We cannot be … hiding behind the 2nd Amendment to justify weapons that the writers of the constitution never imagined," said Reverend Jesse Jackson. “After looking at what happened in Aurora, Col., who could be in favor of these high-capacity magazines?" asked Hubert Williams, chairman of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence. Meanwhile, at the UN, negotiators are putting the finishing touches on a treaty that they hope will help crack down on the international illegal small arms trade. The move, aimed at minimizing violence around the globe, has been denounced by American gun activists, though the treaty will likely have no effect on domestic U.S. gun laws. "Without apology, the NRA wants no part of any treaty that infringes on the precious right of lawful Americans to keep and bear arms," said the National Rifle Association's vice president this month.
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