Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) refers in

arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...

protocols to two main classes of man-portable weapons.https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52142.htm NATO, Small arms and light weapons (SALW) and mine action (MA) * "Small arms", broadly speaking, are individual-service (i.e. for carry and operation by individual infantrymen) kinetic projectile

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s. These include:

handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...

s (

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

s, derringers, and machine pistols),

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

rifled musket A rifled musket, rifle musket, or rifle-musket is a type of firearm made in the mid-19th century. Originally the term referred only to muskets that had been produced as a smoothbore weapon and later had their barrels replaced with rifled barrel ...

shotguns A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s ( assault rifles,

battle rifle A battle rifle is a service rifle chambered to fire a fully powered cartridge. The term "battle rifle" is a retronym created largely out of a need to better differentiate the intermediate cartridge, intermediate-powered assault rifles (e.g. the S ...

s, carbines, designated marksman rifles, short-barreled rifles,

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...

s, etc.),

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

s, personal defense weapons, squad automatic weapons, and light machine guns. * "Light weapons", broadly speaking, are infantry-portable weapons that are either crew-served kinetic firearms,

incendiary device Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...

s, or shoot

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

munition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

s. These include: anti-materiel rifles, anti-tank rifles, general-purpose machine guns, medium machine guns, unmounted heavy machine guns, portable

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s, rifle grenades, underslung grenade launchers, grenade launchers, automatic grenade launchers,

recoilless rifle A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

s, man-portable anti-tank missiles,

man-portable air-defense system Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters. Overview MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military ...

s, and mortars under caliber. Small Arms and Light Weapons also include

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

, hand grenades, land mines, and any other man portable weapons not listed above. In contrast, the term "heavy weapons" generally refers to any other weapon systems that are too cumbersome for foot transportation and hence have to rely on fixed mounting platforms installed upon wheeled frames/ vehicles, vessels, aircraft or fortifications for effective operation.

Definition by international legal conventions

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the international framework on firearms is composed of three main instruments: the

Firearms Protocol The Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition (Firearms Protocol) is a treaty on anti-arms trafficking including Small Arms and Light Weapons that is supplemental to the Conv ...

, the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (Programme of Action, or PoA) and the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (International Tracing Instrument, or ITI), where only the Firearms Protocol is legally binding. The ITI, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 8 December 2005, defines small arms and light weapons as: Such

policies and treaties are focused on international arms trafficking (importation and export), and in the standardization of laws, protocols and sharing of law enforcement information and best practices across nations to prevent illicit arms sales. They also focus on terrorism, arms proliferation as a humanitarian concern, disarmament in the face of extreme violence, and cases of ameliorating anarchy, civil war and international conflict. SALW provisions are generally not oriented towards imposing or enforcing domestic national or local legislation of legitimate gun ownership or sale.

United Nations SALW control efforts

Small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

and light weapons are used in conflicts around the world, causing injury and death. Small arms control was first broached by UN Resolution A/RES/46/36 (December 1991), which was expanded upon by A/RES/50/70 (January 1996). This latter resolution mandated a panel of experts to research the type of small arms and light weapons being used in the world's conflicts and to study which weapons might apply to fall under an arms control regime. The recommendations of expert reports returned to the General Assembly, A/52/298 (1997) and A/54/258 (1999) led to a July 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms, with a follow-up in July 2006. On 26 September 2013 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2117, which urged nations to remain committed to small arms embargoes and SALW control protocols. Work on SALW via the United Nations is coordinated by the Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), though the UN Coordinating Action on Small Arms (CASA) mechanism, which comprises 21 UN departments and agencies working on different aspects of small arms and light weapons control. The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), carries out research in arms control affairs and has published many articles and books related to small arms and light weapons. On 2 April 2013, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to adopt the

Arms Trade Treaty The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a multilateral treaty that regulates the international trade in conventional weapons. It entered into force on 24 December 2014. 113 states have ratified the treaty, and a further 28 states have signed but not ra ...

(ATT) to govern the legal international trade in many types of conventional weapons, from warships and aircraft to small arms and light weapons. A basic obligation of the treaty is that all States Parties should establish or maintain controls in the area. In this way, the treaty also helps the international community to address unregulated or illegal trade in conventional weapons. The treaty opened for signature on 3 June 2013. To date, two-thirds of UN member states have signed the treaty (130 states), and 72 have ratified it. The treaty entered into force on 24 December 2014.

Global distribution of small arms

In 2018, Small Arms Survey reported that there are over one billion small arms distributed globally, of which 857 million (about 85 percent) are in civilian hands.smallarmssurvey.org
Small Arms Survey reveals: More than one billion firearms in the worldsmallarmssurvey.org
Estimating Global CivilianHELD Firearms Numbers. Aaron Karp. June 2018 U.S. civilians alone account for 393 million (about 46 percent) of the worldwide total of civilian held firearms. This amounts to "120.5 firearms for every 100 residents." The world's

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

control about 133 million (about 13 percent) of the global total of small arms, of which over 43 percent belongs to two countries – the Russian Federation (30.3 million) and China (27.5 million). Law enforcement agencies control about 23 million (about 2 percent) of the global total of small arms.

References

External links

Arms Sales Monitoring Project
at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
Small Arms and Light Weapons
at United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
Control Arms campaign

Coordinating Action on Small Arms
United Nations Programme of Action, Implementation Support System
International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)

Mines Advisory Group (MAG)

Project On Government Oversight (POGO)
"small arms" search results
Small Arms Survey

SALW Knowledge Base
at South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC)
United Nations Coordinating Action on Small Arms

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office: Small Arms and Light Weapons

The Wassenaar Arrangement
on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies {{DEFAULTSORT:Salw Arms control Firearms Gun politics

Definition by international legal conventions

United Nations SALW control efforts

Global distribution of small arms

See also

References

External links