Gun Control in Venezuela is easier said than done
On the night of August 12th, a small Sucre Municipality (a.k.a. Petare) Police Post near a shopping mall was attacked by four armed thugs. Two police officers were wounded and are now in stable condition. As the picture shows, the perpetrators had enough firepower to engage the police and were not afraid to use it.
From Venezuelan cities to smaller towns and now especially inside our prisons, having easy access to all kinds to firearms is a given for criminal bands. As a direct example of the consequences of this, homicides in Caracas reached a historical high in the first six months of 2012.
The most recent public safety plan (and 19th since Chavez took power) presented by the Chavernment is big on gun control: Civilians can no longer buy any kind of guns, they have accelerated the destruction of illegal weapons and they will even give police forces a new kind of marked ammunition, made by CAVIM.
That is a stable door being shut well after the horse has bolted.
And not even shut. The Disarmament Bill remains stalled in the National Assembly. Months ago, the bill was close to pass by joint support of Chavismo and opposition (really unusual these days) but then a new text made by the Presidential Commission on Disarmament gave Chavismo an excuse to delay its approval once again.
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