Protecting civilians is literally impossible without stemming the flow of small arms. Today, such arms are the principal tools of war used to kill, maim and terrorize people mostly innocent and mostly civilian. The impact on civilians has been devastating. These are truly small arms of mass destruction. Their widespread availability has made it easier to fight, multiplying the human costs in civil and ethnic disputes.
Small arms are simple to use and light to carry, lowering the barrier for violence and terror.
They make it easy for corrupt governments and warlords to transform innocent children into chillingly efficient killing machines. They endanger international military, police and humanitarian assistance workers whose very jobs it is to help those victimized by conflict. These arms make economic development impossible. The challenges of controlling them are complex, but come down to a question of supply and demand, and frankly, the political courage to act. The demand for small arms is fuelled by those whose ambitions perpetrate human misery.