Firearms regulation in Venezuela
During the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, in 1914, a disarmament decree in the Federal District was enacted, and later in 1919, a disarmament law was decreed, ordering every weapon owner to surrender them to the authorities; the only exceptions were machetes and hunting shotguns.The official justification was to reduce crime, but the law was ultimately used to disarm the population and to prevent possible uprisings.[2] In 2012, Venezuela banned private sales of firearms and ammunition with the intention of lowering crime rates.The army, police, and certain groups trusted by the government (colectivos) are exempt from the ban and can buy firearms from state-owned manufacturers.Sixty disarmament centres were created in the country and the penalty for illegal firearm possession was raised to twenty years imprisonment.