Top official says Dominican Republic must scrap gun culture

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Domínguez on Monday asked society’s support to abolish the bearing and possession of guns, as a way to fight organized crime, drug trafficking and femicides.

He said the gun ownership culture cannot continue because it places weapons in the hands of criminals. "The equation is simple, a world and a country without weapons is safer, a thousand times better than what we have."

The official said the destruction of weapons forms part of the government’s Public Safety Plan to prevent and prosecute the illegal use of guns.

Dominguez, speaking during the destruction of 2,000 weapons in front of the Justice Ministry, said a Special Prosecutor was created to fight weapons trafficking and possession, taking into account statistics on crime, which he affirms reveal that guns are behind most homicides. He said theuse of guns claimed the lives of 576 people from January to June this year.

For his part, Interior and Police minister José Ramón Fadul, called on society to avoid acquiring weapons. "Don’t arm yourselves, because that is not the way."

He noted however, that president Danilo Medina’s Administration won’t pursue a policy to disarm the population.