MARK Dawson, co-ordinator of Oxfam Campaigns in York, bewails the fact that there is no international treaty governing the trade in arms (Arms response, Readers' Letters, June 10).

He then goes on to list the superpowers who produce these arms (he misses out Russia?). Surely, if the superpowers profit from the export of arms there will never be an international treaty. Why does he pick on the superpowers?

There have been no great advancements in firearms in the last 110 years.

The only real change has been in production. When first produced, they required much machining and could only be produced by industrial powers.

Now they are made by spot-welding a few bits of bent metal together, and can be produced anywhere.

Additionally, one can put a program into a computer one side of the earth and have a machine produce one or 10,000 guns on the other side.

My point is that nobody can halt, or even slow, the world production of arms. You can organise as many emotive campaigns as you like, but they will have no effect.

Equally, you can try and guide the arms to friendly powers, but the unfriendly powers will get them just as quickly.

If he wants to find out why people are killing each other, he should go and ask them, and see if he can satisfy the grievances of the parties involved.

Jeremy D Fox, Malton Avenue, York.