de León Wantland, Mayda. 2022 ‘Regulatory Framework for Arsenals: Legislation, Operational Procedures and Security Protocols.’ Stockpile Management in Central America and the Caribbean: A Look at Arsenals in the Region, pp. 7-9. Guatemala City: Instituto de Enseñanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (IEPADES). 8 September

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G. Regulatory Framework for Arsenals: Legislation, Operational Procedures and Security Protocols

In the entire region, only Costa Rica maintains a single arsenal for the weapons of its security forces, and this facility also holds weapons seized as evidence.

Regarding the national arsenal of Costa Rica, the Law of Arms and Explosives (1996) states, in Article 15, the following:

… The National Arsenal is the general depot of the state which guards, stores and monitors the firearms and other instruments used by the State police forces.
The primary responsibilities of this department include:
1) Keeping custody over state-owned weapons, ammunition and explosives;
2) Maintaining the weapons;
3) Supplying, by order issued by the Director General of Armament, the regulation weapons for normal
of the various police forces;
4) Maintaining appropriate records showing the whereabouts of assigned weapons, inventory, requisitions slips, authorizations, and other necessary controls;
5) Relaying the whereabouts of assigned weapons and the other items to the Registry of Arms.
6) Issuing procedures and guidelines on custody and maintenance of weapons and explosives for the armories and to the police officials who must comply.

There is no governing body that supervises the arsenals of all the countries. For example, there is no arms control body with the specific power to inspect the condition and security of state entities or private security companies. When it comes to privately owned weapons, generally the power to supervise these caches goes to the armaments directorates.

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