SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Mexicans offered $1,300 to hand in a machine gun
Mexico City, Jan 8 (AFP) Jan 08, 2025
Mexico's government plans to offer up to $1,300 for people who hand in firearms including machine guns and assault rifles under a citizen disarmament program aimed at reducing violent crime.

The financial incentives for people dropping off weapons at collection points in churches were published late Monday in the country's official gazette.

They include 8,700 pesos ($430) for a revolver, 25,000 pesos ($1,200) for an AK-47 rifle and 26,450 pesos ($1,300) for a machine gun.

President Claudia Sheinbaum last month encouraged residents to participate in the "Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace" program, assuring those skeptical that they would not be prosecuted if they gave up weapons.

"It's about setting up places like the lobbies of churches where people can go to turn in their weapons voluntarily, and give them economic incentives to give up their firearms," she said.

"We also had it in Mexico City and it had significant results," added the former mayor of the capital city, home to around nine million people.

Mexico is plagued by violent crime linked to the multibillion-dollar illegal drug trade.

In 2023, the country recorded 31,062 homicides, 70 percent of which were caused by firearms, according to preliminary data from the national statistics institute.

Mexico tightly controls gun sales, making them practically impossible to obtain legally, and has repeatedly urged Washington to tackle arms trafficking across the border from the United States.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
NASA eyes SpaceX, Blue Origin to cut Mars rock retrieval costs
US company Firefly Aerospace to launch for Moon next week
Capture theory unveils how Pluto and Charon formed as a binary system

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Integrated spin wave storage advances quantum networks
New quantum sensing technology reveals sub-atomic signals
RoboForce secures $10M to launch AI-powered robotic workforce

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Trump says NATO members should raise defense spending to 5% of GDP
Scholz rejects drastic rise in German defence spending
Raytheon awarded $946M contract to deliver additional Patriot Defense Systems

24/7 News Coverage
Tiny plants reveal big potential for boosting crop efficiency
Rescuers search for survivors after quake in China's Tibet kills at least 126
The ancient copper industry in King Solomon's mines did not pollute the environment



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.