Most illegal guns aren’t smuggled from Haiti, official says

Santo Domingo.- Most of the country’s illegal guns aren’t smuggled from Haiti as widely believed, and instead, from the United States, Europe and South America, aboard boats and planes.

Dominicans living abroad also send many of them to relatives in the country, and to resell.

Many smuggled weapons are detected when owners go to the Interior and Police Ministry to obtain papers, but that agency cannot issue a permit for guns entered irregularly.

Interior and Police minister Jose Ramon Fadul said some people argue that the import ban on guns used for commercial purposes should be lifted, citing the many gun shops that have "gone under" on the reason.

Concerned with the illegal trafficking, Fadul said the government is in talks with several countries to exert stricter control over weapons and favors restrictions to carry a weapon, in addition to establishing a "protocol" for permits issued to people who need to bear a gun.

"I don’t agree with eliminating ownership, that cannot be eliminated, but to carry one must regulated," the official said, quoted by diariolibre.com.