Small Arms Dialogue

The Winter-Spring 2002 issue of the SAIS Review featured eight articles assessing the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. Most of these essays supported new measures to limit the international trade in small arms. Addressing the small arms trade, however, is a controversial issue, and several authors disagreed with some of the points of view expressed last year. In the following dialogue, Don B. Kates, Gary R. Perlstein, and David B. Kopel express concern that limits on the small arms trade will prevent individuals from defending their rights in the face of oppression. Aaron Karp, Natalie J. Goldring, and Loretta Bondi, all of whom contributed to the Winter-Spring 2002 issue, defend their original positions.