Film Focuses on Illicit Weapons Trade and the Need for an Arms Trade Treaty

By Wyatt Hoffman A newly released video called "A Short Film About Guns" underscores the need for an effective Arms Trade Treaty to reduce the illegal flow of weapons to conflicts across the world. Director Minos Papas partnered with the Control Arms Campaign to produce the video, which features four experts with firsthand experience with the devastating results of the unregulated global arms trade. These experts include Kathi Lynn Austin, arms trafficking investigator and director of the Conflict Awareness Project; Ishmael Beah, former child soldier in Sierra Leon and author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier; Paul Conroy, war photographer for the Sunday Times; and Stuart Platt, retired Rear Admiral US Navy and a former senior procurement officer for the US Navy under the Reagan administration. From their unique perspectives, these individuals describe the complex problems facing UN delegations as they negotiate the treaty in New York until July 27. The experts agree that the Arms Trade Treaty is an essential step in reducing violence.