Firearm News
Social Media Used for Gun Sales, Trafficking in Venezuela [ES]
18 November 2016
Entorno Inteligente
[Translated summary: Venezuelans now use social media like Whatsapp, BBM, Snapchat and Instagram to illegally buy and sell guns. A Beretta 92FS pistol can be purchased for 2.7 million Venezuelan bolivars (270,000 USD). Official data from 2012 calculates that the country has between 1.2 and 1.5 million unregistered guns. Until March, 2016, only 48,000 firearms had been destroyed.]
Los índices de violencia y criminalidad siguen en un preocupante ascenso. Para completar... (GunPolicy.org)
1,868 Firearms Destroyed in Venezuela [ES]
31 October 2016
El Nacional (Venezuela)
[Translated Summary: Venezuela's Public Ministry supervised the destruction of 1,868 firearms in Caracas. The cache of firearms had been seized in 11 states nationwide by the police since July this year.]
El Ministerio Público, a través de la Fiscalía Superior del Área Metropolitana de Caracas (AMC), supervisó este lunes 31 de octubre el acto de destrucción de 1.868 armas de fuego, las cuales fueron incautadas en 11 estados del país en el segundo semestre del... (GunPolicy.org)
Since 2003, Venezuela Has Destroyed Over 423,000 Guns [ES]
28 September 2016
Sputnik Mundo (Russia)
[Translated Summary: Over the last 13 years, Venezuela's Government has destroyed 423,000 firearms collected via national security programs. In the last operation, 1,308 firearms were disabled in the context of the "A Toda Vida" social program which aims to reduce the high crime rates in the country.]
CARACAS — El Gobierno de Venezuela inutilizó 1.308 armas de fuego en el estado Anzoátegui (norte), como parte del programa social "A Toda Vida", que busca reducir el... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Destroys Another 17,014 Seized Private Guns [ES]
22 September 2016
El Impulso (Venezuela)
[Translated Summary: 17,014 illegal firearms, which were seized nationwide by the state in the current year, were destroyed in Venezuela. The destruction consisted in the melting on a local city furnace. Since 2003, over 423,000 firearms have been destroyed.]
En el marco del Día Internacional de la Paz, el ministro del Poder Popular para Relaciones Interiores, Justicia y Paz, Néstor Reverol Torres, visitó la ciudad de Barquisimeto para encabezar el proceso de... (GunPolicy.org)
20,000 Firearms Destroyed in Venezuela So Far This Year [ES]
20 September 2016
Radio Nacional de Venezuela
[Translated summary: In Venezuela, at least 20,000 firearms from around the country have been disabled in the current year. In the next few days the government will destroy the guns by smelting in a steel plant. Almost 3,000 of these firearms were voluntarily surrendered. ]
Al menos 20 mil armas de fuego, provenientes de todos los estados del país, han sido inutilizadas en lo que va del año 2016, como parte del Plan Desarme que impulsa el Gobierno Bolivariano,... (GunPolicy.org)
406,534 Guns Surrendered, Seized in Venezuela Since 2003 [ES]
16 September 2016
Aporrea (Venezuela), SENADES
[Translated Summary: According to the General Director of Venezuela's Disarm Service, since 2014, 3,674 firearms and 31,305 ammunition have been surrendered voluntarily by civilians. As well, 52,053 firearms have been seized and will be destroyed. In total, since 2003, 406,534 firearms have been taken off the streets.]
La directora general del Servicio Nacional para el Desarme (Senades), Delia Rondón, anunció que del 2014 a la fecha se han recibido 3 mil 674 armas de... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuelans Trading Guns for Food with Trinidadians - Police
15 September 2016
Caribbean 360
PORT OF SPAIN – Venezuelans and Trinidadians are bartering on the high seas, selling and/or exchanging arms and ammunition for food and basic commodities.
These trades also take place at some of T&T's remote coastal ports, according to Assistant Superintendent of Police Vernly Gift of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB).
He made the comments yesterday at the police weekly briefing where he said there is a need for greater monitoring of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Exchanges Guns for Domestic Appliances [FR]
9 September 2016
Huffington Post (FR)
[Translated summary: The Venezuelan government has launched a gun buyback programme, where citizens can exchange firearms for goods such as TVs, microwave ovens, tablets, washing machines and refrigerators. 561 firearms have been collected and destroyed so far.]
"Échange arme contre électroménager". Au Venezuela, pour combattre la violence par armes à feu le gouvernement offre des fours micro-ondes, des postes de télévision ou des machines à laver à ceux qui... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Amnesty Swaps Guns For Domestic Appliances [ES]
8 September 2016
La Patilla (Venezuela)
[Translated summary: Venezuela's Government is exchanging firearms for microwaves, televisions, washing machines and other appliances in voluntary disarmament operations introduced this month. Over 1,130 citizens have decided to voluntarily surrender their firearms so far. 18,294 guns have been destroyed this year.]
El gobierno de Venezuela cambia armas de fuego por hornos microondas, televisores, lavadoras y otros electrodomésticos en operativos de desarme voluntario... (GunPolicy.org)
Brazil,Colombia,Mexico,Venezuela,United States,India,Nigeria,South Africa,El Salvador
World is Far Less Violent: Global Murders Halving in a Decade
7 September 2016
Foreign Affairs (USA)
The world has never been safer than it is right now. Most forms of violence have dropped precipitously over the past few centuries. Although conflict deaths recently spiked (the war in Syria accounts for one third of all war-related killings today), fewer people are dying from warfare than at virtually any time in human history. Terrorist violence also increased over the past two years—especially in six countries the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia—but it still... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Destroys 2,000 Guns, Plans Bullet Registry - NYTimes
17 August 2016
New York Times
Venezuelan police crushed and chopped up nearly 2,000 shotguns and pistols in a Caracas city square on Wednesday, as the new interior minister relaunched a long-stalled gun control campaign in one of the world's most crime-ridden countries.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said the event marked the renewal of efforts to disarm Venezuelans, through a combination of seizures and a voluntary program to swap guns for electrical goods.
Venezuela has the world's second... (GunPolicy.org)
1,396 Firearms Disabled During 2016 in Zulia, Venezuela [ES]
2 August 2016
Noticia Al Dia (Venezuela)
[Translated summary: Venezuela's National Disarmament Service has disabled 416 firearms that were stored in the different security agencies of the entity. 61 of these weapons were voluntarily surrendered. A total of 1,396 firearms have been disabled during 2016.]
Desde las instalaciones de la Zona Operativa de Defensa Integral (ZODI) del estado Zulia, el Servicio Nacional para el Desarme (SENADES), inutilizó 416 armas de fuego, provenientes de las salas de resguardo... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela's Military Can Now Use Guns to Quell Protests [ES]
31 July 2016
El Tribuno (Argentina)
[Translated Summary: Due to the surge of protests in the current year (3,507 so far), Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice authorised Venezuela's National Armed Force to use guns to control public protests. According to the decree, "firearm use is only permitted in non-pacific public protests."]
La Justicia anuló una resolución en donde se regula el uso de armamento por parte de militares en marchas de orden público. El fallo se produce en medio de una escalada... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Destroyed More Than 12,000 Firearms in 2016 [ES]
22 June 2016
Correo del Orinoco (Venezuela)
[Translated summary: Venezuelan authorities have seized a total of 12,772 firearms during the current year in 51 different tactical operations. The Minister for Justice and Peace noted that some firearms were the result of voluntary surrender from civilians who "are tired of being armed and they traded them for domestic appliances, so they can live in harmony."]
Un total de 12 mil 772 armas de fuego han sido inutilizadas durante este año por las autoridades... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Disabled More Than 8,000 Guns in 2016 [ES]
6 June 2016
Analitica (Venezuela)
[Translated summary: Since the beginning of Venezuela's Liberation of the People Operation, more than 8,000 firearms were disabled. In 2015, 24,000 firearms had been seized and disabled.]
La viceministra del Sistema Integral de Investigación Penal, Katherine Harrington, ofreció un balance el domingo sobre el despliegue de la Operación Liberación del Pueblo (OLP) en el país y precisó que en lo que va de 2016 se han inutilizado más de 8 mil armas de... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Disabled 10,723 Guns in 2016 [ES]
27 May 2016
Noticias 24 (Venezuela)
[Translated summary: In Venezuela, the National Disarmament Service has disabled 10,723 firearms so far this year, since the promulgation of the Law for the Disarmament, Arms and Ammunition Control. More than 400 guns coming from police departments were also disabled.]
VALENCIA -- El Servicio Nacional para el Desarme (SENADES), ha inutilizado la cantidad de 10 mil 723 armas de fuego en el país durante el año 2016.
Así lo dio a conocer la viceministra del Sistema... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela District Seized, Destroyed 550 Guns in 2016 [ES]
19 May 2016
Radio Nacional de Venezuela
[Translated summary: Only this month, more than 300 confiscated guns were destroyed in Barinas, Venezuela. Yhey included 12 and 16 gauge shotguns, 9mm pistols and home-made weapons.]
La Comisionada estadal de la Gran Misión A Toda Vida Venezuela en Barinas, Lidia Rodríguez, destacó que sólo este mes destruyeron más de 300 armas incautadas durante diferentes procedimientos, entre las cuales destacan escopetas calibre 12 y 16, pistolas 9 milímetros y armas de... (GunPolicy.org)
Russian Gun Factories Resume Construction in Venezuela [ES]
16 April 2016
Sputnik News
[Translated summary: Construction of Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition plants in Venezuela restarted in April 2016. Construction was halted in 2014 after the discovery of a $15 million embezzlement in Russia. The plants are estimated to be 70% complete.]
MOSCÚ -- La construcción de plantas para fabricar fusiles y municiones Kalashnikov se reanudó este abril en Venezuela, comunicó Anatoli Punchuk, subdirector general del Servicio Federal de Cooperación Técnica... (GunPolicy.org)
El Salvador,Honduras,South America,Mexico,Venezuela,Central America
Different Approach to Reduce Violence in Latin America
29 March 2016
Americas Quarterly, Opinion
Reducing violence is not about controlling violent neighborhoods or even about controlling violent people. It is about inducing people to control themselves. That's it. The best policing comes when no police are required.
The question is how to achieve this in Latin America, the most violent region in the world and home to countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela, each with homicide rates similar to war zones.
The answer may be unsettling. Many instances of... (GunPolicy.org)
Mexico,Venezuela,Brazil,United States,Spain,France
Mexico Weapons Imports Increased 331% since 2011
23 February 2016
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Mexico's arms imports grew by 331 percent over the last five years, compared to 2006-2010, raising more concerns over the government's reluctance to scale back the militarization of the drug war.
The report (pdf), compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), notes that arms imports to the Americas decreased by 6 percent from 2011-2015 versus 2006-2010. Despite this, Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil all saw a rise in imports.
According to... (GunPolicy.org)