UNITED NATIONS, (AFP) -Governments should establish legally binding rules against the illegal trade in small arms to build on agreements made at a UN conference last month on the subject, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Thursday. (Read photo caption below).
Of the more than 1,000 people killed daily by small arms, so-named because they are weapons that can be operated by a single person, 90 percent are civilians.
"These are significant first steps in alleviating a grave threat to international peace and security," Annan said during a UN Security Council debate on the subject two weeks after a United Nations conference adopted a plan of action to stop illegal traffic in the weapons that kill 500 million annually.
"We must now consolidate these gains. A program of action is a beginning, not an end in itself. Implementation will be the true test," Annan said, urging nations to negotiate international treaties, as the number of countries manufacturing the weapons increases, something anathema to the United States.
Stronger measures aimed at limiting trade in small arms to governments or barring civilian gun ownership were blocked by the United States, which insisted on maintaining its citizens' constitutional right to bear arms and the option of selling weapons to rebel movements.
Delegates to the conference which ended July 21 agreed to a non-binding, 85-point document to take measures to curb the illicit trade in rifles, pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers and other small arms.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan addresses the National Urban League Conference Monday, July 30, 2001, in Washington. At left is the league's logo symbolizing equality. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert)