The Mexican government is launching a new plan to collect weapons from ordinary citizens. They believe disarming the public is crucial to reduce violent crime. As part of this initiative, they are considering offering financial incentives of up to 1,300 USD to citizens who surrender firearms, including machine guns and assault rifles.
The financial incentive was mentioned in the Mexican government’s official gazette published on Monday. It states that government officials will collect these weapons from interested individuals at various churches across the country.
The gazette mentions that for surrendering a revolver, citizens will receive 8,700 pesos (430 USD), for an AK-47 rifle, they will receive 25,000 pesos (1,200 USD), and for a machine gun, they will receive 26,450 pesos (1,300 USD).
In a statement last month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called on the country’s citizens to join the “Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace” program. She reassured those who might have doubts, saying that they will not face prosecution if they surrender their weapons.
President Sheinbaum explained that the government is setting up centers in various churches across the country to provide people the opportunity to voluntarily surrender their firearms. Citizens can go there to hand over their weapons and will receive financial incentives for doing so.
Claudia, who was once the mayor of Mexico City, a city of 9 million people, said, “We implemented this program in Mexico City, and it yielded good results.”
Mexico is mired in violent crime due to its multi-billion-dollar illegal drug trade.
According to preliminary data from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics, 31,062 people were murdered in the country in 2023. Of these, 70% were killed by firearms.
The trade of weapons in Mexico is tightly regulated, making it virtually impossible to legally acquire firearms in the country. The Mexican government has repeatedly called on Washington to take strong measures to combat the trafficking of weapons across the U.S.-Mexico border.
