Quito: Sectors of the Ecuadorian society showed during the last hours their rejection of the decree on carrying and possessing weapons for civilian use for personal defense, issued by President Guillermo Lasso on April 1.
Public and private universities, including Cuenca, the Salesian Polytechnic (Azuay), the University of the Arts, the Azogues National University of Education, the Bolívar State University, and the Chimborazo Polytechnic issued statements questioning the measure.
These houses of high studies proposed that, instead of authorizing the carrying of weapons, they work together with the Police to improve citizen security. On the other hand, they stressed the need to promote public policies that promote education, employment, housing, and crime prevention.
The former Undersecretary for Human Rights, Emilia Carrasco, also spoke in this direction and told local media that “the best way to combat delinquency and crime is to reduce inequality and poverty.” She assured that no correlation exists between the carrying of weapons and decreased violence in no country.
In the opinion of the sociologist and university professor David Chávez, the Lasso decree “demonstrates that the State has renounced its responsibility to guarantee citizen security and does not have the capacity to respond to insecurity in the country.”
Another teacher, Freddy Rivera, assured that “citizens are left in the middle of the crossfire between criminals and the inaction of the State.” Likewise, he regretted that the Government fails to comply with international treaties and conventions that oblige it to protect its population.
In the opinion of the former Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, the presidential decree goes in the opposite direction to the rest of the nations. “Most societies have eliminated or seek to close access to weapons,” he stressed. In addition, he questioned the president’s decision due to its unconsulted nature and without a prior debate.
When announcing the measure, President Lasso pointed out that it was urgent and would combat delinquency, drug trafficking, and organized crime.
