UN Takes Aim at Small Arms.A United Nations (UN) recommendation for a reference manual detailing methods for destroying small arms small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Early Small Arms The first small arms came into general use at the end of the 14th cent. and light weapons with minimal environmental impact may soon come to fruition. On 15 November 2000, the report Methods of Destruction of Small Arms, Light Weapons, Ammunition, and Explosives was released by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (born April 8, 1938) is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1 1997 to January 1 2007, serving two five-year terms. He was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. . The report provides a thorough overview of current practices for destroying arms, including environmental considerations where known. It is intended to guide the creation of a manual on environmentally sound methods for destroying small arms, light weapons, and related ammunition and explosives taken in war or surrendered by citizens. The report comes in response to a September 2000 request for such a manual by the UN Security Council. The report was prepared with the assistance of a number of government experts and in collaboration with relevant UN bodies through the Coordinating Action on Small Arms mechanism. In addition to detailing methods of destruction, the report also suggests that the manual provide guidance on safe handling, transport, and storage procedures. "Small arms" are weapons that are designed for personal use--revolvers, rifles, submachine guns This is a list of submachine guns with articles available on Wikipedia. Because the exact definition of a submachine gun can vary much from source to source it includes assault rifles chambered for submachine gun or pistol cartridges, some machine pistols, and personal defense , and light machine guns. "Light weapons" are designed for a crew of people--heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, and portable antiaircraft guns. The manual will be used in the field rather than for destruction of stockpiles of weapons. Currently there are 500 million small arms in circulation around the world, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the UN. The report examines all current practical destruction methods and outlines the advantages and disadvantages of each. Methods include burning, burying, cutting into pieces, crushing, shredding, and dumping at sea. The report acknowledges that there are no completely ecologically safe procedures. Open-pit burning, for example, can release toxic fumes fumes odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. through the burning of plastics and polymers. Open-pit detonation can result in noise pollution and the release of soil pollutants pollutants see environmental pollution. such as white phosphorus white phosphorus pure phosphorus, used at one time as a rodenticide. ammunition residue. And burial precludes the possibility of recycling. But steps can be taken to minimize the environmental impacts, for instance, by burning or detonating det·o·nate intr. & tr.v. det·o·nat·ed, det·o·nat·ing, det·o·nates To explode or cause to explode. [Latin d in a containment chamber or by choosing a method of destruction that results in recyclable material. "When the manual itself is completed, the world community will have at its disposal a practical tool to use in addressing one of the gravest threats to international peace and security in the new millennium," said Annan at the 20 November 2000 presentation of the report. "In a world awash with small arms, that will be no small achievement." |
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