Frontera NorteSur: The Growing Number of Guns Owned by Mexican Citizens Frontera NorteSur
go to original April 9, 2014

More Mexicans are acquiring arms to defend their families and property. According to a university researcher, the number of firearms legally possessed in Mexico increased 53 percent from 2009 to 2012, jumping from 2,033,749 to 3,118,592 guns.

Ernesto Villanueva, a researcher for the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Institute of Legal Research, based his findings on data from the Mexican Defense Ministry (Sedena), which is in charge of registering firearms. Villanueva and other experts point to a generalized feeling of insecurity being behind the surge in firearm registration. The three year period studied by Villanueva is considered one of the most violent in contemporary Mexican history.

According to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey, the total number of firearms in civilian hands stands at five times the legally registered arsenal, with an estimated 15 million Mexicans currently armed. In other words, a little more than one in seven Mexicans has a firearm.

Official institutions, too, are building up their arsenals. Sedena statistics cited in the Mexican press report that local police and investigative agencies spent at least $25 million on arms purchases last year. Heavily populated Mexico City led the pack with expenditures in the $2 million range, but even little Aguascalientes spent more than $1 million on guns for the cops.

As interest in owning firearms grows, so does discussion of the topic on the Internet. Besides the practical questions of gun ownership, the constitutional right to bear arms is emerging as a more focused issue of debate.

Mexico-based web pages dedicated to firearms include Mexico Armado (Armed Mexico), Libertad Armada (Armed Freedom), and ADA10Mexico (the Association in Defense of Article 10).

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