Citing High Levels of Violence, PRI Leader Proposes Relaxing Gun Controls MexicoNewsDaily.com
go to original July 2, 2022

A Look at the Gun Laws in Mexico (Two Expats Mexico)

Four congressional leaders have rejected an Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) proposal to relax gun controls so that Mexican families can defend themselves with powerful weapons.

PRI national president Alejandro Moreno, who is also a federal deputy, made the proposal Tuesday, asserting that Mexicans should be able to defend themselves if the federal government can’t guarantee their safety amid the current high levels of violence.

“We’re going to propose a modification to the firearms law so that Mexican families can gain access to larger caliber weapons with greater ease,” he told a press conference. The aim is for Mexicans to be able to protect their homes, businesses and lives, Moreno said.

“People are defenseless. [Criminals] arrive at homes and businesses and they murder women [and] men – Mexicans who can’t defend themselves because there is not a proper control and registry so that they can have” access to powerful weapons, he said.

“… Criminals should know that people will defend themselves. Our priority must be honest people,” Moreno said. “… The … [federal] government has no security plan and isn’t interested in drawing one up. That’s why violence … is the main concern of Mexicans. … There are more murders than in all previous six-year periods of government,” he said.

Mexicans already have a constitutional right to own guns with the exception of those prohibited by federal law and those reserved for the exclusive use of the military. Guns can only be purchased legally at one store operated by the army in Mexico City, but they are widely available on the black market. To buy a gun legally, citizens must have a firearms license, which can be obtained after people justify their need for a weapon and satisfy authorities that they are not involved in criminal activity and don’t use drugs. Most licenses limit possession of guns to people’s homes.

Congressional leaders with the ruling Morena party, the National Action Party (PAN), the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and the Citizens Movement (MC) party rejected the proposal put forward by Moreno, who acknowledged that it would generate controversy.

Read the rest at MexicoNewsDaily.com

Related: Mexico’s Strict Gun Laws (Mexperience)

Related: Can American Expats Own Firearms in Mexico? (Expat Resource Center)

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