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INSIDELATINAMERICA
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Friday 17 September 2010 |
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Venezuela
Discusses
Proposed
Gun
Control
Law
CARACAS
- The
Venezuelan
parliament
on
Thursday
debated
a draft
gun
control
law
aimed at
combating
crime.
The
initiative
would
bring
significant
advances
over
previous
legislation
on the
subject,
said
Tulio
Jimenez,
president
of the
National
Assembly's
domestic
policy
commission.
The new
law
would
ban the
sale of
weapons
by
private
parties
and
grant
the
state
absolute
control
over
them, to
ensure
national
security
and
defense.
For the
first
time,
ammunition
would be
regulated
and
penalties
for
illegally
possessing
and
bearing
weapons
would be
harsher,
Jimenez
said in
an
interview
with the
Venezolana
de
Televisión
TV
network.
The
draft
law,
which
has
passed a
first
round of
debate,
would
set a
limit of
25
rounds
of
ammunition
per
person,
replaceable
only
when
their
use has
been
justified.
Firearms
would
not be
completely
banned,
but the
circle
of those
authorized
to have
them
would be
smaller,
he said.
Once the
law is
passed
after a
second
round of
discussion
in
Congress
and
signed
by the
president,
citizens
will
have 180
days to
hand in
their
illegal
weapons
and
register
their
legal
ones,
Jimenez
said.
After
that
period,
disarmament
operations
would
begin.
Parliamentary
president
Cilia
told
reporters
the
legislation
would be
passed
shortly
after
reviewing
and
incorporating
suggestions
from the
people.
Flores
criticized
the
position
of
opposition
sectors
who are
using
the
issue of
insecurity
as a
weapon
to
attack
the
socialists
in
campaigning
for the
legislative
elections
scheduled
for
September
26.
"Now
they
talk
about a
disarmament
law to
win
votes,
even
though
the
parliament
has been
working
on that
legislation
for over
a year,
she
said.
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