12,793 murders make guns the country’s main instrument of death

Santo Domingo.- Guns have in the last eight years, an average of 133 people per month, while gunshots account for six of every 10 people who die violently, making firearms Dominican Republic’s main instrument of death.

The use of guns significantly increase fatalities, for which sectors favor a general disarmament as a way to cut the violence considered alarming.

The study "the arms race and its effects on violence in Dominican Republic" found that guns account for 42% of the deaths from thefts, assaults, murders and underworld executions and 23% involve personal conflicts such as brawls, suicides and gender violence.

It also found that the legalization of guns jump from 30,516 in 2000 to around 207,000 in 2011.

Currently there are more than 750,000 firearms in the hands of civilians and the military, a number which public safety policy expert Daniel Pou calls alarming. "We have to implement a policy of disarmament. There is a very direct link between the use of weapons and the increase of violence."