industry, also referred to as the defense industry or the arms trade, may be a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology, and may be a major component of the Military–industrial complex. Arms-producing companies, also mentioned as arms dealers, defense contractors, or because the military industry, produce arms for the soldiers of states and for civilians. Departments of state also operate within the munitions industry, buying and selling weapons, munitions and other military items. International trade handguns, machine guns, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other relatively inexpensive weapons is substantial. There is relatively little regulation at the international level, and as a result, many weapons fall under the hands of gangland, rebel forces, terrorists, or regimes under sanctions. Arms control refers to international restrictions upon the event, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction.