Small Arms

In “How to Reach Consensus on an Arms Trade Treaty” (January/February 2012), Andrew Wood rightly states that industry would have a major role in implementing an eventual arms trade treaty (ATT) and highlights the value of its engagement as the international community meets to finalize treaty text this summer. He also forthrightly identifies a number of sticking points in the negotiations and properly seeks to dismiss the distraction caused by members of the firearms industry and sport shooter community.

In the high-profile criminal case against a man who has become a symbol of the illicit arms trade, a federal jury in New York City on Nov. 3 found arms dealer Viktor Bout guilty on all four charges brought against him.

Following a rare high-level meeting of UN members in September discussing ways to “revitalize” UN bodies addressing disarmament and nonproliferation, this year’s First Committee deliberations paid considerable attention to the role and methods of the international “disarmament machinery.”

Delegates at a UN biennial meeting last month reached consensus on the next steps toward an international instrument to address the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons. Although the commitments made were modest, the delegates’ ability to find consensus was seen as progress over their meeting in 2008, when they had to call a vote to reach agreement.