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| Date |
03JUL1999 |
| Country |
El
Salvador |
| Classification |
Policies/Effects |
| Source |
Diario
Latino |
| Author |
N/A |
| Title |
Los
civilies podran portar armas de guerra en
El Salvador |
|
| The
Salvadoran Legislative Assembly has approved the
new Weapons Law that will permit civilians to
possess and carry high-caliber weapons as protection
against the increasing delinquency. An average
of 500 assaults and 21 homicides with firearms
take place every day, according to official figures.
Violence increased in El Salvador after the end
of the civil war, as thousands of weapons remained
in circulation, 30,000 army personnel were demobilized
and 7,900 guerilla soldiers and 10,000 members
of three different security corps were disbanded.
The national police (PNC) replaced the security
corps, and until last April they had18,200 personnel
to cover a territory of 20,742 km2 and 6,1 million
inhabitants. In addition, private security companies
employ 16,200 security agents. According to numbers
from the organization Movimiento Patriotico Contra
la Delinquencia, the 150,000 privately owned weapons
are registered with the Department of Defense,
meaning that for every twentieth Salvadoran there
is one gun. |
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