Target: Light Weapons

An international ban on land mines was tough enough. Now a coalition of the same nonprofit organizations that succeeded in that task is targeting even more widespread killers: automatic rifles, machine guns, small mortars, etc.

The trade in these so-called "light" weapons is rampant, and the toll in lives is incalculably heavy. These weapons were the means of murder in Bosnia and Rwanda. How to proceed? Possibly tighter controls on ammunition. Or programs to buy up guns.

It's a Herculean undertaking, but so was the anti-land-mine crusade. We admire the coalition's pluck, and the moral force of its campaign.