MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Arms sales down in Chile but the wealthy guard their homes with guns
Between 2009 and 2010 the number of ABC1 Chileans with guns rose from 9.5% to 13.8% The number of gun owners has decreased over the past year in Chile from 5.3% to 4.9%. Yet one economic sector—the wealthiest Chileans from the socioeconomic level ABC1—continue to buy firearms at an escalating rate.
In their seventh National Urban Citizen Security Study, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) found that the number of wealthy Chileans who keep revolvers, pistols, rifles or shotguns in their homes increased from 9.5% in 2009 to 13.8% in 2010.
Around 36.5% of the upper class gun owners justified their purchases as necessary for protecting their families and houses from delinquency.
Chile’s deputy director of public security, Catalina Mertz, warned that the statistics could be wrong, with a margin of error plus or minus four percent. According to Mertz, the rise in gun ownership among the wealthy has very little to do with a heightened sense of insecurity and the need to protect one’s home.
“If there has been an increase, then we have to look at what is motivating people to buy firearms, and there we can see a decrease in the percentage of people who say they bought their weapon to prevent or protect themselves from delinquents.”
Security expert Lucia Dammert told La Tercera that it is important to address “whether the heightened sales of guns are linked to protecting oneself or whether it is just people exercising their right to bear arms, which they were not able to do before.”
While stressing that further studies should be undertaken, Dammert added, “What we do know is that there are many inconsistencies in the study’s answers. If delinquency continues to drop we enter into a dangerous area where people will believe the drop is due to an increase in the acquisition of firearms.”
Despite the apparent increase among Chile’s wealthiest, the overall decrease in gun sales remains consistent with previous statistics. Gun sales have fallen 57% over the past five years. In 2006 there were a registered 10,235 guns, while in 2010 only registered 4,353 gun sales.
By Amanda Reynoso-Palley – Santiago Times
Top Comments
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Read all commentsLemme see here. The wealthy buy guns and crime drops.
Apr 13th, 2011 - 09:38 am 0Ummmmmmmmmm. WINNING !
That means a slimeball looks at a house ( like mine) and says “ me no going dare”“ Him habbing gunz”..........he'd be 100% correct.Not to mention silent perimeter alarms and infrared cameras viewed on a 42 inch LG plasma.
Hey. There is a death penalty in a place called Duglas. The trial lasts three seconds.
The reason sales have dropped is the smart ones got in the game at the first sign of a problem. The sheep waited until they were a victim and then bought into the solution ( despues)
Similar problem in Bahia (check out Salvador's homicide stats.).
Apr 13th, 2011 - 06:57 pm 0High walls & spikes may deter;
cameras do record;
dogs will kill -
but once uninvited guests get inside *with the inevitable handgun*, should the occupant take the first shot?
(because if he/she politely says 'You first', the spouse - if still living - has to wash the partner off the floor).
Without the means to take that first shot, the question is academic.
This is not the gentle Home Counties.
Uninvited Guests WILL (and do) get the treatment here.
“but the wealthy guard their homes with guns” Yeah, that's really wrong, they should guard their homes with stones.
Apr 14th, 2011 - 10:46 pm 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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