MONTEVIDEO - Uruguay has the world's highest per capita rate of gun ownership, with one out of three Uruguayans owning a firearm, according to figures released Tuesday by the Institute of Legal and Social Studies (IELSUR), a non-governmental organization (NGO). Up to December 2012, 584,112 guns were registered in Uruguay, and the number of unregistered firearms is expected to double, in a country of just 3.4 million people, the NGO's Luis Pedernera told a local radio... (GunPolicy.org)

Bangalore: "Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins," said novelist Ayn Rand. In an era where the misuse of guns and ammunitions are leading to massacres, it is no more a place of nonviolence. Arms and ammunitions leave bitter memories and scar the human race for ages to come. Here are the 10 countries with highest gun ownership, as listed by yahoo.com. USA: USA tops the list of countries with highest gun ownership and this no surprise! The... (GunPolicy.org)

BUENOS AIRES — Walking along the riverfront boardwalk in Uruguay's sleepy capital city of Montevideo, it's hard to imagine anything drastic happening, much less a murder. Save for the occasional jogger, the majority of people on the rambla engage in the most Uruguayan of activities: sitting and chatting while drinking the herbal infusion mate from a calabash gourd. It is tranquilo by any definition. But Uruguay has been experiencing a murder wave of sorts. In this... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: The use of firearms to kill grew by 73% in Uruguay: in 2011, firearms were used in 63 crimes, in 2012, they were used in 109 crimes. The Ministry of Interior intends to regulate this gun black market by strengthening penalties.] En 2011 63 personas murieron baleadas, mientras que en 2012 fueron 109 los homicidios en los que se utilizó arma de fuego para matar, anunció el ministro del Interior, Eduardo Bonomi, en la interpelación del jueves, en... (GunPolicy.org)

Uruguay, under the current administration, has garnered a reputation for its "thinking outside the box" approach to leadership, and it's gotten results. Now, in an quirky effort to reduce the number of firearms in circulation, the government is again trying something new, offering citizens to turn in their unregistered guns in exchange for something infinitely more amusing — a shiny new bike. Or, as Uruguay's Interior Ministry puts it, the tradeoff is "Weapons for... (GunPolicy.org)

Politicians in Uruguay are offering gun owners an amnesty with a twist — with those handing in their deadly firearms being given a bicycle or a laptop computer in exchange. The move, which will also see sentences for the illegal possession of guns made more severe, comes as the government revealed that one in three of its citizens were armed. The Interior Ministry said in a statement: "The campaign proposes an exchange; the citizens hand over the firearm and... (GunPolicy.org)

SANTIAGO — It is interesting to have a look at firearms legislation in South America, where street gangs and violence is commonplace. According to a study done at Universidad de Chile, the number of incidents of handgun use is higher in regions with low levels of education, high poverty and unemployment, and a younger population. It is not surprising that the most vulnerable zones in this matter are Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. In Brazil, the minimum age required... (GunPolicy.org)

Uruguay is on course for its most violent year on record, according to a new report, suggesting that organized crime may be increasing its presence in one of Latin America's historically more peaceful countries. The Proposal Foundation (Fundacion Propuesta - FP), an organization that monitors security in Uruguay, released figures putting the country on course for a homicide rate of 9.19 per 100,000 in 2012. This marks a jump from 6.27 per 100,000 last year, and means... (GunPolicy.org)

Uruguay is investigating 20 police officers for the disappearance of some 200 firearms over the past two years, as evidence suggests the officers may have been involved in an arms trafficking ring that sold weapons to Brazilian criminal organizations. The officers, including a former police chief, are suspected of involvement in the disappearance of more than 200 firearms from police headquarters in Treinta y Tres, an eastern province that shares a maritime border with... (GunPolicy.org)

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Latin America's increasingly ambitious Mercosur regional bloc is aiming to focus on small arms suppliers who are seen as being behind the region's endemic and seemingly insurmountable problem of violent crime. The area's disparate armed groups, guerrillas with political agenda and drug-related gangs have drawn attention from Mercosur's watchdog committees as senior officials explore ways of containing organized crime, rooting out myriad networks... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: At an IANSA event, Uruguay's four main political parties have committed themselves to create a comprehensive national firearms law based on international standards]. En Uruguay, uno de cada tres habitantes posee un arma de fuego. Se estima que 550.000 circulan en forma ilegal. Con esta realidad como punto de partida, se realizó ayer, y continúa hoy, un Foro "Hacia una Nueva Ley Nacional de Armas". Discusión. "En nuestro país existe una... (GunPolicy.org)

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — Uruguayan parliamentary investigators said they blocked an attempt by their government to purchase arms from Iran, using a diversion through Venezuela to try to evade U.N. sanctions on the Tehran government. Some 15,000 rounds of Iranian-made 5.56 mm ammunition were loaded onto a Uruguayan navy ship in Venezuela before the attempt was discovered, said Javier Garcia of Uruguay's opposition National Party in an interview. Uruguay's military chiefs... (GunPolicy.org)

GINEBRA — Con una población conjunta de 464 millones de habitantes, 11 países — Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, México, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela —, poseen hasta 80 millones de armas de fuego, según revelan los resultados de la Encuesta de armas pequeñas 2004: derechos en riesgo, realizada por el Instituto de Posgrado de Altos Estudios Internacionales, dados a conocer en Ginebra la semana pasada. Exceptuando a Ecuador, todos... (GunPolicy.org)