A group of citizens, including former ministers and experts in the subject of citizen security, asked legislators to only allow one weapon per person.
Bill 20,509 seeks a reform of the Weapons and Explosives Law and it was initially established to reduce the number of weapons a person can register from three to one. However, on Monday, the congressmen in the Security and Drug Trafficking Commission approved a motion that maintains the limit in three, as established in the current legislation.
Some of the legislators who support the reduced number of weapons are Leonardo Garnier, former head of the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), Carlos Roverssi, former minister of communication, and Max Loría, former deputy minister of peace, in addition to María Luis Ávila.
They are joined by the communicator Cristiana Araya, Evelyn Villarreal, who works for the State of the Nation, Rafael Eduardo Núñez, director of the Costa Rica program, as well as Gonzalo Elizondo, an expert on human rights, the official adviser Pablo Soto, and Sara Castrillo from the Foundation for Peace and Democracy.
Loría informed that they will seek to send legislators a letter explaining and justifying their petition.
There is abundant scientific evidence that shows that increasing the possession of weapons in a community increases the homicide rate. This has been proven in many countries, different contexts and periods, but the impact is much greater in societies such as the Costa Rican nation with high development rates, with purchasing power and highly urbanized. In that context, the relationship is much clearer: more weapons equals more homicides,”
reads the letter.
The former deputy minister of peace said that when he was in that position, they pressed for the issue of arms control, and executed programs that showed good results in terms of security. Along with the Cabinet of Chinchilla, they came to the conclusion that the best thing was the possession of only one weapon, although he personally believes that the ideal is zero.
Loría also said that this is not about opposing the legal bearers or pointing them out as criminals. However, the weapons do get in the hands of criminals. According to data provided by the Ministry of Public Security (MEP), during last year, 778 weapons were stolen from the State, private security companies, and people who register them.
The perverse cycle of weapons makes weapons go from legality to illegality and end up being used in homicides. Therefore, if we want to have fewer crimes, it is urgent to have fewer weapons,”
argued Loría.