Despite the modifications made to the Arms Law by the Sebastián Piñera administration, security experts agree that this project is still outdated, which affects the increase in violence in crime; expressed by a large part of the authorities of both the current government and the past.
It is in the discussion of this edge that the Ministry of the Interior wants to enter, so it is preparing an initiative to modify a fundamental aspect for them: the “disarmament” of the population, for this it seeks to extend the prohibition of carrying weapons to retired officials of the Armed Forces (FF.AA.) and Order (Carabineros and PDI).
In addition to this, it seeks to increase the requirements for the acquisition of weapons by civilians and the labeling of ammunition.
In this line, the Minister of the Interior, Izkia Siches, presented the idea to the Chamber of Deputies, also informing that the supervision of arms control will be transferred from the General Directorate of National Mobilization (DGMN) to the Ministry of Public Security ( portfolio that is still being processed in Congress, so it is not in force).
Currently, only some former officials of the Armed Forces, depending on their rank, and the police can carry weapons, in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 3556, signed in 1980.
Said article firstly states that retired generals, lieutenant colonels and non-commissioned officers “will be empowered to carry firearms that are duly registered in their name, without prejudice to the provisions of the respective institutional regulations for personnel in active service. ”. This, as long as they keep their Institutional Identification Card (TII).
Regarding the “disarmament” plan of the former officials of the Armed Forces. and policemen, the undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, explained to Third that “this initiative is part of a set of other initiatives that we will implement, those that seek to better control the legal arms market, disrupt illegal markets (policy against organized crime), and reduce the stock of available weapons.”
Asked about the reason for the objective of the modification towards the stock of weapons of the ex-uniformed, Monsalve stated that “the question that must be asked is the other way around: Why can the ex-uniformed carry weapons? What makes them different from the rest of the citizens? Basically, what is being debated there is the principle of equality before the law. Today there is no justification for them, unlike the rest of the citizens, to be able to carry weapons”.
In this sense, he warned that “it must be considered that they are exposed to the same behaviors and risks – robberies, assaults, cooptation – to which other citizens with weapons are exposed, and that they are the ones that, to a significant extent, feed illegal markets with weapons. and crime. The initiative, therefore, is based on the principle of equality before the law and the need to reduce the stock of available weapons”.
For his part, consulted by the media, the president of the Retired Generals Corps of the uniformed police, Francisco Smith, expressed his disagreement with this project, for which he specified that the measure to withdraw the stock of weapons in the population should not be directed against retired troops, but “on those who commit crimes.”
The retired officer maintained that “there is no misuse of weapons, nor scandals due to certain situations, in our case. Retired people ensure strict compliance with the law regarding the use of weapons, and if there has been a case, it will be for legitimate defense due to theft.”
In this sense, he assured that “you cannot criticize the handling of weapons by retired people. My serious recommendation is that an analysis be carried out to do this and see how many weapons are going around in the hands of criminals. sink your teeth, not the people who know how to use it, like retired officials.”
