El Caribe leads with a report that says two people die in the Dominican Republic each day as a result of gunshot wounds. Over 360,000 Dominican civilians are legally armed – 7% of the population – but many more are in possession of illegal firearms. “Pulling the trigger has become all too common,” says the article, and the public is “terrorized by crime or overly fond of weapons.” About 80 people apply for gun licenses every day, according to Interior and Police Ministry spokesman Eduardo Ogando. The police and the government favor well-regulated, licensed gun ownership, but all too often this is not the case, as the grim statistics show. Many people possess false licenses and it appears there is a thriving industry involving the production and sale of such forged documents. Police and Interior Minister Pedro Franco Badia recently announced improved standards in the production of legal licenses that would make them more difficult to be counterfeited. Badia condemned the existence of illegal weapons in the country, mentioning that certain recent high-profile murders had been carried out by unlicensed gun owners. El Caribe’s editorial flags the issue as a matter of top national priority. The column, under the title “Fewer guns and less violence”, concludes by saying “As a society, we cannot allow disputes to be resolved by armed violence”. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
El Caribe leads with a report that says two people die in the Dominican Republic each day as a result of gunshot wounds. Over 360,000 Dominican civilians are legally armed – 7% of the population – but many more are in possession of illegal firearms. “Pulling the trigger has become all too common,” says the … <\/p>\n