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After
the announcement of this new
law, the president made a
symbolic act, destroying
weapons that were confiscated
from people linked to crimes.
/ Ministry
of Security courtesy photo
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President
signs weapons law reform
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By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
This Thursday, President Carlos
Alvarado and the Minister of
Public Security, Michael Soto
signed a reform to the Weapons and
Explosives Law at the Judicial
Investigation Organization
building* in San José.
President Alvarado congratulated
the deputies for approving this
reform to the current law, "Costa
Rica is moving towards [being] a
safer country."
The reform was approved by the
deputies of the Legislative
Assembly on April 9. The main
change is the increase in jail
sentences illegal weapons
possession. The old jail sentences
were four years the new one is
eight years for "owning, buying,
selling, storing, export, import,
or manufacture weapons that are
prohibited by this law, including
its parts or components."
In addition, the prison period for
someone owning a non-registered
weapon has increased from three to
five years.
The law establishes the obligation
of the seller of a weapon to
report any sales to the Department
of Weapons and Explosives of the
Ministry of Security.
The approved reform also applies
sanctions for those who do not
report the loss or theft of a
weapon within five days after that
loss.
Any company or person that
receives weapons, ammunition, or
explosives as a guarantee of a
loan will be sanctioned.
Private security companies have to
give their weapons to the Ministry
of Security when they close
operations to prevent the guns
from ending up in the hands of
criminals.
According to the Ministry of
Security statistics, this year the
police have been seized 863
illegal guns.
Michael Soto, Minister of
Security, says, "one of the main
goals has been to take illegal
firearms from the streets, many of
them used to commit crimes."
After the announcement of this new
law, the president made a symbolic
act, destroying weapons that were
confiscated from people linked to
crimes.
The law goes into effect after it
is published in the government
newspaper known as La Gaceta. It
is expected that this publication
will be in a couple of weeks.
In addition, the new law only
applies to new gun purchases. The
people who bought or sold any gun
before this law will not be
affected by these changes.
At the moment, deputies of the
Legislative Assembly are analyzing
another reform, this one to
articles 7, 20, 23 and 51 of the
Law of Weapons and Explosives.
The goal of that new reform is to
reduce individual ownership from
three to two. There is no deadline
for deputies to approve or
disapprove this reform.
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Do you think it is
reasonable to allow an adult to
own only two weapons? We
would like to know your thoughts
on this story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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