The Ministry of Police & the Interior reported that, of the nearly 700,000 weapons estimated to be in the hands of civilians, only 6,611 weapons have regularized the holding of these under new rules of the present government, accounting for perhaps a trifling 1%. Despite the fact that the grace period to renew gun permits expired over a week ago, sources from the ministry revealed to El Caribe that of the 6,611 gun licenses that were issued or renewed, 24 were official licenses. In view of this, the ministry has extended the grace period to 30 October. Minister Franklyn Almeyda confessed to reporters that he was “afraid to give numbers on the total amount of illegal weapons or licenses that were issued in an irregular fashion or by military personnel.” He did say, however, that the ministry operates an electronic database containing information on 400,000 individuals with guns, and nearly 700,000 files on people who were issued weapons. The minister said that while their information encompasses weapons with legal status, they do not have statistics on those weapons that enter the country as contraband, sold illegally, or illicitly distributed by the members of the Armed Forces. “There are many weapons in the Dominican population with not-quite-legal permits, ones we call ‘friendly permits’ out of respect for the Armed Forces,” said Almeyda. He cited the National Intelligence Directorate, the narcotics agency and the Armed Forces as three examples of institutions that issue permits without the legal capacity to do so.