Summary.
The bill creates a voluntary exchange program for firearms, ammunition, explosives and related items. In return for surrendered items, it proposes a monetary transfer linked to the participant’s personal identity card, redeemable only for food, medicines and/or school supplies at businesses authorized by the Ministry of Government (Ministerio de Gobierno). The program aims to reduce the number of firearms in the country as a means of maintaining public order and protecting the population.
The Ministry of Government would award the transfer through the governor’s office of the relevant province. Those offices would organize collection events with the participation of the Ministry of Security and National Police (Ministerio de Seguridad y Policía Nacional). The bill calls for events at least quarterly and, at a minimum, two per year. The Ministry of Government would announce their date and time in advance, while the provincial governor’s office would provide a venue.
The Ministry of Security (Ministerio de Seguridad) would arrange an expert appraisal through the National Police Armaments Directorate (Dirección de Annamento de la Policía Nacional) to determine the market value of surrendered firearms, ammunition, explosives and related items. The amount paid to the beneficiary would be based on that value. The surrendered items would remain in the Directorate’s custody and be destroyed at a public event.
Information supplied by beneficiaries through their identity cards to receive the transfer would be for the exclusive use of the Ministry of Government and would not be publicly accessible. If the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) needed information provided under the program, it would have to request it through a reasoned written note or a communication from the Administrator of Justice. The Ministry of Security, the Ministry of Government and the relevant provincial governor’s offices would publish quarterly reports on their official websites describing implementation and results. Those reports would include quantities received by type or category, payments to beneficiaries and consolidated statistics on crimes committed with those types of firearms. The institutions would also develop a public information strategy.
Anyone wishing to surrender firearms, ammunition, explosives or related items would have to record that intention through a preregistration system. The Ministry of Government would issue the forms, which could be obtained at National Police stations, the relevant provincial governor’s office or digitally. The Ministry of Public Security (Ministerio de Seguridad Pública) would establish the procedure for destroying voluntarily surrendered firearms. Before destruction, authorities would confirm whether a firearm had been used to commit a crime, was evidence or had been stolen. Firearms designated for destruction could not return to commerce through auctions, sales or other means. The bill provides for commencement in the fiscal year following promulgation. Its provisions concern these public institutions and could affect authorized retailers, program beneficiaries and participants in the firearms trade.
What it proposes.
- Voluntary surrender of firearms, ammunition, explosives and related items.
- Transfers redeemable for food, medicines and school supplies.
- Collection, appraisal, custody and destruction of surrendered items.
- Participant data, public information and program reporting.
Who it would affect.
- People seeking to surrender firearms, ammunition, explosives or related items.
- Recipients of the monetary transfers.
- Businesses authorized to accept the transfers.
- Public bodies responsible for organizing, assessing and carrying out the program.
Key points.
- Proposes a transfer linked to a personal identity card, redeemable only for food, medicines and/or school supplies at authorized businesses.Art. 1
- Assigns collection events to the Ministry of Government and provincial governor’s offices, with participation by the Ministry of Security and National Police.Arts. 3-4
- Bases payment to beneficiaries on a market value appraisal and provides for custody and public destruction of surrendered items.Arts. 5-6
- Restricts access to beneficiaries’ data to the Ministry of Government and sets out how the Public Prosecutor’s Office may request them.Art. 7
- Requires quarterly reports on items received, payments and crimes, together with a public information strategy.Arts. 8-9
- Requires preregistration by people wishing to surrender items and provides for physical and digital forms.Art. 10
- Requires checks before firearms are destroyed and prevents their return to commerce through auctions, sales or other means.Art. 11