By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
The General Directorate of Armament of
the Ministry of Security received 81
weapons and ammunition of different
calibers which had been by a private
security company that went out of
business last year.
According to Roberto Méndez, director
of Private Security Services, the
owner of the private security company
decided to put these weapons in state
custody for security reasons.
"Companies that close business in a
responsible manner place the weapons
in the custody of the directorate",
said its statement.
The police report said that the stock
of weapons included revolvers and 38,
22 and 9mm ammunition.
Eduardo Solano, Vice Minister of
Public Security, said the
weapons will be in the directorate’s
temporary custody until their
destruction. This is standard practice
and keeps the weapons from falling
into the hands of criminal gangs,
added Solano.
With regard to the ownership of arms
in Costa Rica, as A.M. Costa Rica
reported on January, the Minister of
Security, Michael Soto, called on the
deputies to amend the law on the
possession of weapons.
The minister is requesting that the
law be changed to reduce the number of
weapons that can be owned from three
to one per person.
The Minister defended his position on
reducing the number of weapons allowed
per person to one each. He appeared
before the Drug Trafficking and
Security Commission of the Legislative
Assembly to answer questions about the
new bill to reform the Weapons and
Explosives Law.
"I do not intend in any way to disarm
citizens and reject those statements
made by some people," said Soto.
Still lawmakers on the committee ended
up approving a limit of three firearms
per person.
Although Soto wanted to lower the
number of guns a person could own, he
stated that the regulation would only
apply to new buyers. "All those who
have registered two or more firearms
will be respected," said Soto.
The minister said that the main
objective of this bill was to regulate
the number of weapons in the country
as an issue of national interest.
"This is due to a fundamentally
technical reason,” said Soto. The more
weapons that exist in the society,
more likely it is that some could end
up in an illicit market and be used to
commit crimes.
According
to the information provided by the
minister on the possession of weapons
in the country:
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Ministry
of Security courtesy photo
Weapons will be in
the directorate’s
temporary
custody until their
destruction.
- 37 percent of the
weapons used to commit
criminal acts came from
the legal sources.
- There are extreme cases
including one person who
owns 202 registered
weapons and others have
owned between 30 and 40
weapons.
- In 1999, there were
109,000 weapons registered
in the Directorate General
of Armament, while, as of
December 2017, a total of
244,455 guns were
registered. The number of
weapons increased 135,455
in 18 years.
- The 895 companies that
provide private security
service have 8,706
registered guns but no one
knows what the 285
companies that closed down
did with their 5,100
weapons.
As a result of the
analysis made by the
deputies, committee
members approved a motion
for citizens to have the
right of three weapons
each and not just one, as
Soto proposed.
According to the statement
of the final bill approved
by the Security and
Narco-trafficking
Commission, "People cannot
register more than three
firearms for personal use
to keep their families and
their patrimony safe."
These modifications were
made to bill #20.509 of
the Weapons and Explosives
Law.
Currently, deputies are
continuing to analyze the
rest of the motions before
passing the proposal on to
the full legislature for a
final decision.
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Are
three weapons per person
enough to protect the gun
owner, family and
property? We would like to
know your thoughts on this
story. Send your comments
to: news@amcostarica.com
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