By shining a bright light on this illicit small-arms market, activists hope to reform a system that has spun out of control. Some want to spark a morality debate over exports of larger weapons. Slowly, the world is begining to listen. These are weapons that aren't necessarily controlled by governments. It's a profitmaking situation.
Some observers blame the West for the current state of affairs.
And yet, the US remains the largest arms exporter with half of the world market. In 1997, Mr. Arias says, US arms were used in 39 of the world's 42 ethnic and territorial conflicts. Other experts blame the growth in the illegal gun trade on the end of the cold war. In an ironic twist, the end of that nuclear standoff of weapons has only made part of the world safer. Overall, arms exports have fallen by a third, and the developed world, where the missiles were pointed, can breathe a sigh of relief.