Army extends firearms ban in Bogotá, shown to cut murder rate

The army extended through May a firearms ban imposed in the Colombian capital Bogotá at the mayor's request, which officials believed had led to a comparative reduction in homicides, the Bogotá city government reported on 2 May. The ban apparently in force from 1 February to 29 April 2013 affected civilians and legal entities and was renewed from midnight on 2 May to midnight on 30 July 2013; the first such ban was imposed from 1 February to 29 April 2012, the office of the city's Government Secretary coordinating security affairs reported. Figures seemingly indicated a link between banning guns and fewer homicides: there were 166 reported homicides using guns in Bogotá from 1 February to 29 April 2013, down from 196 for the same period in 2013, and in contrast with 232 homicides cited for 2011, presumably for the same three-month period that year when there was no ban. The report stated that in the February to late-April period, police caught 40 suspects in flagrante delicto and 212 whom courts had ordered detained in relation with homicides. Hundreds of guns were also confiscated or handed in since 2012, the municipality stated. The ban did no apply to the armed forces, members of the diplomatic corps, registered security personnel and officials of the judiciary. Separately, police said they had detained 1,466 people in Bogotá so far in 2013 for stealing mobile telephones or related devices, RCN La Radio reported on 7 May. Police most recently detained eight suspected of selling stolen mobile devices in the districts of Fontibón and Kennedy in south-western Bogotá; in all 3,940 stolen devices were recovered this year, RCN radio reported.