By
the A.M. Costa Rica
staff
Deputies in the Legislative
Assembly voted on a reform of
file #20508: The Partial Reform
of Weapons and Explosives Law.
The reform, with the voting of
36 votes in favor and 11
against, approved the
registration of a maximum of two
weapons per person. Before, the
law three weapons per person
were allowed.
More reforms approved in their
first debate were:
- The new bill plan establishes
a penalty of two to four years
in prison for anyone who carries
a firearm without the proper
license.
This penalty of imprisonment
will increase, in cases in which
the weapon is not registered or
the use of the weapon is related
to any case of organized crime
or illicit association.
- When the person carries a
registered firearm but the carry
permit has expired, the
individual will be fined
according to a base amount in
the Penal Code but not
jailed.
The base salary used as a
reference to establish sanctions
according to the Penal Code and
to impose fines is ¢446,200
colones (about $739).
- In case of recidivism within
the period of six months of the
initial act the fine will be
double.
- Any owner of a firearm,
whether registered a person or
company, is required to report
the gun to the Judicial
Investigation Agency and the
Firearms and Explosives Control
Department, as well as to report
if the weapon is lost or stolen
within a period of five working
days from the moment of loss.
In the event that the weapon is
recovered, that update must also
be reported as well.
A person who fails to report the
lost or recovered of the gun
will be fined calculated on the
base salary used as a reference
to establish sanctions in the
Penal Code.
- A penalty of three to five
years in prison shall be imposed
on anyone who has an illegal
firearm,, one which was not duly
registered with the Department
of Arms and Explosives Control.
- A penalty of from four to
eight years in prison will be
imposed on anyone who owns,
buys, sells, transports, stores,
enters to the national
territory, exports, conceals,
manufactures, assembles,
transforms, any illegal weapons
or any of its parts and
components.
According to deputy Gustavo
Viales, 24 years have been spent
trying to approve the reform of
the arms law and citizens are
waiting for punishments to be
increased for people with
illegal arms and drug
trafficking crimes, "citizens
expect responsibility and that
is what that we are applying."
Deputy Harllan Hoepelman Paez
said that this issue is very
sensitive and for Costa Ricans,
it is not easy, but "with the
reform, it was possible to move
forward, and hopes that this
government will take seriously
the entry of illegal arms across
the borders."
On March 1, as was reported on
A.M. Costa Rica, more reforms
were made when the deputies
unanimously approved the file
#20947 called Reform to Articles
#4 and #5 of the Law against
Domestic Violence.
File #20947 is a reform of the
law to protect victims of
domestic violence when a firearm
is involved. Reforms allow
seizure of the weapon and allow
the judicial authorities to keep
it in custody until there is a
final resolution. At that point,
it can be returned to the owner
from whom it was confiscated.
The new
regulation authorizes to the
Supreme Court of Justice to keep
a record of the names and
information of the person
against whom precautionary
measures of protection have been
imposed. This database must be
confidential and be consulted
only by the judge.
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A.M.
Costa Rica wire
services photo
The
reform, with the
voting of 36
votes in favor
and 11 against,
approved the
registration of
a maximum of two
weapons per
person.
The new law
also provides
that the
person
suspected of
committing
domestic
violence may
request the
early lifting
of the imposed
measure and
that a judge
will assess
that request.
More changes
were reported
by A.M. Costa
Rica on
February 25,
when deputies
of the
approved the
following
motions:
- People with
a criminal
record cannot
carry weapons.
- It is
prohibited for
people to
enter places
of medical
services or
educational
services
carrying a
weapon.
- In the event
that a
security
company closes
its
operations,
representatives
should send
all firearms,
ammunition,
loaders, and
other items to
the Security
Ministry for
custody within
six months.
Failure to do
so could mean
a sentence of
from one to
three years in
prison.
With regard to
the purchase
of weapons by
civilians, the
transaction
must be
formalized
before a
notary. The
seller will
report the
sales
transaction to
the Department
of Weapons and
Explosives of
the Ministry
of Security.
According to
the current
law, there is
no prohibition
on the sale of
assault
weapons that
use AK and
AR-15
platforms in a
semiautomatic
format.
However, the
Ministry of
Security
issued an
institutional
guideline in
2014 that
prohibited the
sale of these
weapons and
now the
Ministry wants
the guideline
included in
the law.
According to
Michael Soto,
Minister of
Security,
"with regard
to the use of
semi-automatic
weapons, the
proposal of
paragraph K of
Article 25 of
the Weapons
and Explosives
Law, what we
intend is that
the spectrum
of control is
much wider.
There are
semi-automatic
weapons that
are from the
AK47and AR15
platforms,
those are
military-type
structure,
those have
different
calibers, the
ones that we
include are
the most
representative,
we want to
include in the
law these
calibers to
control that
spectrum of
possibilities
because now
this type of
weapons could
be registered
by any
citizen."
The Deputies
will continue
with the
analysis and
vote of the
rest of
pending
motions to
reform the
Weapons and
Explosives
Law.
---------------
Do
you agree with
the gun
ownership
restriction of
two per
person? We
would like to
know your
thoughts on this
story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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