Chile’s new socialist president calls for ‘total ban on gun ownership’

Chile’s new socialist president Gabriel Boric Font vows “armed violence will not be tolerated” and calls for a “total ban on gun ownership.”

This was Font’s first live speech. He also proposed to tackle drug trafficking amongst other measures. Boric plans to meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 6th to discuss the matter further.

Merco Press reported the following from the conference;

The President spoke of a “total ban on gun ownership” because “armed violence will not be tolerated in our country and that is why our Program ‘Fewer Arms, More Security’ proposes the radical limitation of legal access [to firearms].”

The head of state has asked Chile’s Congress for “all the support to pass a law that will allow us to move towards a total ban on gun ownership and at the same time strengthen the institutional framework in charge of control.”

The President also vowed to “increase controls to dismantle the organizations dedicated to illegal arms trafficking” and prevent armed violence, a new and growing phenomenon in Chile in recent years, from taking root in society.

“There are some who do not applaud this, we have seen what happens in other countries, let’s not allow it to happen to us in Chile,” Boric argued. “A Chile without weapons is a safer Chile,” the president insisted.