Ministry of Interior & Police opens first centers to receive firearms; President Abinader says it is a pilot program open to improvements

[Dolores]

President Luis Abinader, the Minister of Interior & Police Jesus (Chu) Vasquez and Santo Domingo Mayor Carolina Mejía met in the uptown low-income area of Cristo Rey on Friday, 4 June 2021 to announce the start of the “My Safe Country” initiative. Cristo Rey is a densely populated barrio in the capital city bordered on the east by Maximo Gomez Avenue and to the north by the entrance to the National Zoo.

The program is part of the Abinader administration National Citizen Safety Strategy and was defined as “the most ambitious, biggest and most organized” effort to combat crime in the country. The program includes the registration of motorcycles and drivers and the voluntary turning in of unregistered firearms. In coordination with the National Transit and Transport Institute (Intrant), the government is facilitating the registration of motorcycles in Cristo Rey...

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[CristoRey]

Why didn't the list the number of working firearms that were turned in
over the weekend in the Cristo Rey sector?

 

[windeguy]

Law 63-17 that created the Intrant establishes the National Registry of Motorcycles. The law also mandates that motorcycle drivers use protective helmets labeled with the motorcycle’s license plate and have obtained a driver’s license category 1. Most owners of motorcycles and motorcycle drivers in the Dominican Republic need to regularize their status and that of their vehicle. Governments have been traditionally lax in implementing the law.

Some very interesting issues here. Actually having a special license for a motorcycle (not a bad thing) and the sticker with that license plate of the motorcycle on the helmet.

I see several potential issues over that sticker. These people really are not good at thinking things through and coming up with ridiculous requirements nobody else in the world has.

 

[SKY]

Why didn't the list the number of working firearms that were turned in
over the weekend in the Cristo Rey sector?

They did. NONE.....................

 

[DR Solar]

Just amazing! Pandemic but begging for tourism. Change requirements for legalized guns but no path to do so thus, all expired licenses are illegal. Totally change the motor cycle system at the same time. Curfews changing while promoting a safe tourism.

Some changes should evolve. But really?

Thinking of our desert property that we reserved as our back up plan to flee the D.R.

Shades of autocrates in rhe works.

 

[Eugene_A]

At least there are a few politicos with brains... in PLD.

Read this: https://www.elcaribe.com.do/actuali...armas-cree-deben-desarmar-a-los-delincuentes/

The Mayor of Santiago said the right thing.

 

[CristoRey]

What they article didn't say is how Abel has been quietly having the PN and AMET
run check points in high crime areas since he took office back in 2016. They have
pulled a lot of illegal weapons off the streets using his stop and frisk approach.

 

[windeguy]

Just amazing! Pandemic but begging for tourism. Change requirements for legalized guns but no path to do so thus, all expired licenses are illegal. Totally change the motor cycle system at the same time. Curfews changing while promoting a safe tourism.

Some changes should evolve. But really?

Thinking of our desert property that we reserved as our back up plan to flee the D.R.

Shades of autocrates in rhe works.

I think all expired gun licenses were always illegal. Nothing different in that. As for making renewal of licenses almost impossible, that is new.

Licensing and insuring motorcyles and riders while is a good thing, albeit almost impossible to enforce

As for the pandemic, it has always been about AI tourism restoration.

I do know others also considering their "back up plans" as well. Pandemic pandemonium is getting to others as well.

 

[windeguy]

At least there are a few politicos with brains... in PLD.

Read this: https://www.elcaribe.com.do/actuali...armas-cree-deben-desarmar-a-los-delincuentes/

The Mayor of Santiago said the right thing.

Agreed. The Mayor of Santiago is correct.

 

[Eugene_A]

What they article didn't say is how Abel has been quietly having the PN and AMET
run check points in high crime areas since he took office back in 2016. They have
pulled a lot of illegal weapons off the streets using his stop and frisk approach.

I think he was also really pissed off about the recent raid on his electoral headquarters where some kind of SWAT "by mistake" raided the wrong house and some weapons were confiscated.

 

[CristoRey]

I think he was also really pissed off about the recent raid on his electoral headquarters where some kind of SWAT "by mistake" raided the wrong house and some weapons were confiscated.

Could be.
I know several people living here in Santiago who legally carry firearms.
Interestingly enough there was a lot of discussion about this issue a few weeks
ago at a local restaurant/ bar. All of the people in the conversation agreed, they'd
rather deal with the penalties from the government than let a criminal
have the upper hand against them or their families... and I don't blame them.

 

[JD Jones]

Could be.
I know several people living here in Santiago who legally carry firearms.
Interestingly enough there was a lot of discussion about this issue a few weeks
ago at a local restaurant/ bar. All of the people in the conversation agreed, they'd
rather deal with the penalties from the government than let a criminal
have the upper hand against them or their families... and I don't blame them.

I agree. A level-headed good law-abiding citizen who is only trying to protect his family probably has nothing to fear as far as consequences are concerned, legal or not. Maybe have their gun confiscated if they shoot a burglar.

I see this whole deal as just another way to get guns out of the hands of the marginally acceptable carriers. The guys who shoot somebody over a parking space, or pops off rounds to "impress" for example.

 

[CristoRey]

I agree. A level-headed good law-abiding citizen who is only trying to protect his family probably has nothing to fear as far as consequences are concerned, legal or not. Maybe have their gun confiscated if they shoot a burglar.

I see this whole deal as just another way to get guns out of the hands of the marginally acceptable carriers. The guys who shoot somebody over a parking space, or pops off rounds to "impress" for example.

There are also a lot of (otherwise law-abiding) citizens who carry illegally for the very same reasons.
I'm told it's not uncommon for a ladron to enter with a firearm, lose it during the struggle with one of
these (otherwise law-abiding) folks and end up getting shot dead.
No witness, no case.... as it should be.

 

[windeguy]

Motorcyclists obtain driver’s license after many years on the street

<p>This Tuesday, dozens of motorcyclists went to the Club Los Cachorros de Cristo Rey to regularize their motorcycles for the first time. Such is the case of Juan María Valdez, a watchmaker who says he has been driving motorcycles since 1983 and had not sought a driver’s license until today. “I...

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