Ha. Ban a weapon? That's worked so well. And a weapon that anybody with a few bucks and a picture of a target can make in their garage?
We have to become used to a world where technology violates every principle we used to consider table stakes for civilization. The challenge is to build some kind of stable society out of the mess we've made.
Didn't a ban on space weapons forestall the weaponization of space by a few decades?
Didn't bans on chemical and biological weapons keep research in those fields small enough to prevent the emergence of politically potent factions with a pecuniary interest in their development?
The nuclear test ban treaties have held up well.
There is a big difference between "states openly develop these things and rich people lobby for more budget", and "states have secret programs as a hedge against noncompliance by the other side".
Ban on space weapons is an interesting point, as it was done early enough, the downsides were immediate enough, and the upsides far away enough, that it was politically doable.
Autonomous robots are much further along, relatively, and the upsides are realizable next year whereas the downsides are in the farther future. Does not seem promising.
But it does take a state to load out an MQ-180 with hellfires that will automatically target anyone whose IMSI has been within 100 yards of someone in the "disposition matrix".
We have to become used to a world where technology violates every principle we used to consider table stakes for civilization. The challenge is to build some kind of stable society out of the mess we've made.