Small Arms

Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light machine guns (e.g. M60), and sometimes hand grenades. Shotguns, general-purpose machine guns, medium machine guns, and grenade launchers may be considered small arms or as support weapons, depending on the particular armed forces.

Small arms typically do not include infantry support weapons. In the U.S. military, small arms refer to handguns or other firearms less than 20 mm in caliber, and including heavy machine guns (typically .50 caliber or 12.7 mm in U.S. service). The NATO definition extends to "all crew-portable direct fire weapons of a calibre less than 50 mm and will include a secondary capability to defeat light armour and helicopters."

Though there is no civilian definition within the U.S., any firearm utilizing a projectile greater than 1/2 inch (.50 caliber or 12.7 mm) in diameter is legally defined as a "destructive device," while anything .50 caliber or less is normally considered "small arms." The so-called "1/2 inch rule" does not apply to shotguns, sporting cartridge big bore rifles (such as rifles chambered in .600 Nitro Express) or muzzleloading black powder firearms, many of which are larger than .50 caliber.

The term which encompasses both, SALW (Small Arms and Light Weapons), is used by some organizations working to limit arms proliferation. For example, much of the United Nations action to tackle illegal arms proliferation is raised in the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms.

Famous quotes containing the words small and/or arms:

    I’ve always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals.... I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night, or a dog of some kind to act pleased when you come in. You ever notice how a hotel room feels so lifeless?
    Anne Tyler (b. 1941)

    And to your more bewitching, see the proud,
    Plump bed bear up, and swelling like a cloud,
    Tempting the two too modest; can
    Ye see it brustle like a swan,
    And you be cold
    To meet it when it woos and seems to fold
    The arms to hug you? Throw, throw
    Yourselves into the mighty overflow
    Of that white pride, and drown
    The night with you in floods of down.
    Robert Herrick (1591–1674)