Then the world gawks with suspense at the nuclearisation saga in several regions, one giant killer is silently relegated to background. Labeled as the 'weapons of mass destruction in slow motion' by United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan, the proliferation of small weapons and light arms has caused immense misery and death in several conflict zones of the world. According to the International Red Cross, rifles, rocket launchers, pistols and grenades have known to cause approximately 3 million deaths in the last decade. The most commonly known variant, the AK-47 almost numbers 50 million world wide, enough to exterminate a sizeable chunk of world's population.
The dimensions related to the illegal arms trafficking have been monstrous. The United States by far is the largest supplier of 'legal arms' with an annual sale of $12 billion. The illegal sale of almost $8 billion annually comes from the satellite states of erstwhile Soviet Union.
The UN member states in 2001 unanimously adopted the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons which was to review progress in 2006. The move has run into rough weather as many countries, including the US, have made least progress in curbing the flow.
As generations get mauled, consensus is urgently needed for bringing real time changes into the crisis.