Small arms

The three weapons on the left are small arms captured in Fallujah, Iraq by the US Marine Corps in 2004

Small arms is a term used by the armed forces to refer to infantry weapons, such as the firearms that an individual soldier can carry. It is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, carbines, assault rifles, rifles, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light machine guns, general purpose machine guns, medium machine guns, and sometimes hand grenades.

Small arms do not include infantry support weapons. In the US military, small arms refers to hand guns or firearms less than 20 mm in caliber, and therefore include heavy machine guns.^[1] The NATO definition extends to "all crew-portable direct fire weapons of a calibre less than 50mm and will include a secondary capability to defeat light armour and helicopters."^[2] Though there is really no civilian definition within the US, since any firearm utilizing a projectile greater than 1/2 inch (.50 caliber or 12.7 mm) in diameter is considered a "destructive device" , anything .50 caliber or less would be considered "small arms". ^[3]

The term which encompasses both, SALW (Small Arms and Light Weapons), is used by some organizations (see IANSA) which work to limit their proliferation.^[4] For example much of the action of the UN to tackle the issue is raised in the UN SALW conference.^[5]

Small arms proliferation is also a set of issues for the international movement to restrict the sale of military-grade small arms in conflict zones. The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) is an international non-governmental organisation, working to stop the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons.

Many organizations, such as Unicef, are very concerned over the misuse of such easy to obtain weapons, and the estimation that every day, tens or even hundreds of thousands are abused in through acts involving small arms.

The Dutch film director Sander Francken made a documentary called "Dealing and Wheeling in Small Arms" about the problems concerning the use and trade of small arms, especially for developing countries where the use of small arms has devastating effects on the civilian populations.^[6]

[edit] See also

[edit] Citations and notes

1. ^ p.169, Marchant-Smith & Haslam
2. ^ p. 189, Dikshif
3. ^ Title 18 US Code 921 The 1/2 inch rule does not apply to shotguns, sporting cartridge big bore rifles (such as rifles chambered in .600 Nitro Express) or muzzleloading black powder firearms, many of which are larger than .50 caliber.
4. ^ [1] Conventional arms
5. ^ [2] UN Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Conference
6. ^ Dealing and Wheeling in Small Arms

[edit] References

• Marchant-Smith, C.J., & Haslam, P.R., Small Arms & Cannons, Brassey's Battlefield Weapons Systems & Technology, Volume V, Brassey's Publishers, London, 1982
• Dikshif, P. Proliferation of Small Arms and Minor Weapons, Strategic Analysis, Vol. 17(2) May 1994