The Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto, expressed his disapproval of the voting that took place on Monday evening in the Security and Drug Trafficking Commission of the Legislative Assembly regarding changes to the Firearms and Explosives Law. “With the motions approved, we cannot continue with the reduction in homicides”, stated Soto.

The Minister assured that the objective is not to rid citizens of firearms, but to bring down the number of homicides, with gun control being one of the factors that influenced the reduction of homicides last year in the country.

Changes to the law could create problems in four areas, said Soto:

1) Currently permits to carry weapons can be cancelled following and administrative procedure, which speeds up the process and prevents criminals from obtaining firearms and permits. The new motion establishes that in order to cancel a permit to carry a weapon for people with a criminal record the mediation of a judge is necessary, this will cause the process to be slow and opens the door to people obtaining a firearm.

2) Three firearms per person: This motion increases the number of firearms that a person can have, and does not allow the required control for private security companies. The Ministry of Security was aiming for one gun per person and established different controls to prevent legal firearms to end up in the illegal market.

3) A motion is included that makes it obligatory for commercial spaces to have a space for people to store the firearm they are carrying. Soto considers this could represent danger in the event that the space provided is not safe enough and weapons could be extracted.

4) There is no clarity on the possibility to sanction a person who loses their firearm or has their firearm stolen and does not present the corresponding report.

Minister Soto called on the members of congress to study the motions approved by the Commission to guarantee that the bill that is presented for voting considers the security of all Costa Ricans.