Controlling availability of arms

Disarmament and arms control are overlapping areas. The first is concerned with the substantial reduction or complete elimination of those weapons with which nations can commit aggression and wage war, given that the continued existence of nuclear weapons must sooner or later lead to war escalating to an unimaginable level of destructiveness. Arms control implies some form of collaboration between adversary states, involving either formal or tacit agreement, aimed at limited control in well-defined areas. The latter is considered more realistic, but it does not lead to the former.

Some 19 protocols, treaties, agreements and other international instruments of accord have been generated in the interests of arms control since 1948. Negotiating sessions, productive and non-productive, between the super-powers alone are counted in the thousands. By 1993 impressive cuts had been made in strategic and nuclear arsenals. The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) in Force since 5 March, 1970, safeguards inspections as required in Article III, and are carried out under a safeguards agreement of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In 1995, the NPT will be reviewed. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) is another treaty. With the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1 and 2 covering the USA and former USSR; START 3 involving the UK, China, France and others), the next decade promises to see a 70% reduction in the number of nuclear warheads in the world.

An approach suggested to improve and strengthen regulation of the arms trade is to study the channels through which terrorists acquire weapons so that action can be taken to close off such channels.

1. Regions in need of economic aid should receive generous aid from the UN on the condition that they disarm. A "Code of Agreement" on cooperation and disarmament could provide matching aid equivalent to a substantial amount of the money saved by disarmament or at least sufficient to provide the incentive to cooperate.

2. The five permanent members of the Security Council account for 81% of the global arms export trade. USA accounts for 50%. And ironically, developing countries are the buyers for 68% of all exported arms.

1. A very considerable range of disarmament proposals have been considered or negotiated with almost no tangible results, excepting a number of arms control agreements in areas of no military interest, or treaties of no significance, or having little probability of entering into force or being realistically implemented.

2. Gun control leads to extermination of targeted populations. Since we should learn from the mistakes of history, the next time someone talks in favor of gun control, find out which group of citizens they wish to have exterminated.

3. In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, approximately 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915-1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill, and others, who were unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million "educated" people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. That places total victims who lost their lives because of gun control at approximately 56 million in the last century.

4. 86% of the world's arms are supplied by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council; two-thirds of these are sold to the poorest countries of the world.

1. Promoting disarmament
2. Opposing arms race
3. Ending
4. Controlling
5. Advancing conflict resolution

1. Restricting use of indiscriminate weapons
2. Restricting small arms
3. Promoting arms limitation
4. Preventing an arms race in outer space
5. Negotiating multilateral arms limitation
6. Limiting availability of terrorist weapons
7. Involving non-governmental organizations in arms limitation activities
8. Eliminating all weapons
9. Curbing flow of small arms
10. Controlling weapons of mass destruction
11. Controlling illegal exports of weapons
12. Complying with arms treaties
13. Campaigning for nuclear disarmament

1. Reducing gun violence
2. Providing security assurances for non-nuclear weapon states
3. Peace-keeping
4. Maintaining global security
5. Building culture of peace
6. Balancing conventional armed forces

1. Providing international transparency in armaments
2. Networking against arms trade
3. Monitoring international arms trade
4. Establishing nuclear-free zone

1. Updating armaments
2. Trading weapons
3. Shipping arms illegally
4. Selling arms
5. Manufacturing destructive products

1. Regulating world trade

1. Socio-economic burden of militarization
2. Restriction of arms supply
3. Proliferation of strategic nuclear weapons
4. Proliferation of manufacturing capability of chemical weapons
5. Illegal international arms shipments
6. Failure of disarmament and arms control efforts
7. Competitive acquisition of arms

1. Unavailability
2. Self-control
3. Oversupply
4. Illegality
5. Availability

1. The Codes of Conduct to Control Arms Transfers
2. Urgency Resolution on the Code of Conduct for Arms Exports adopted by the European Parliament
3. EU Programme for Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking in Conventional Arms
4. United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs
5. CODE OF CONDUCT ON ARMS EXPORT
6. Small arms and light weapons The response of the European Union
7. Nobel Peace Laureates' International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers