Yesterday I am talking on the phone with an old family friend in Venezuela. I asked him about the status of the new Disarmament Law and if it was already on the books for good. It turns out it is not yet, but they are expecting its final approval soon. He also told me that he had to part with his collection of 12 assorted weapons in order to remain legal as the new law only allows one firearm per person per lifetime. He sold some and gave the others to friends and relatives that were looking for a gun and hoping (key word: hoping) they can register them before the new law takes effect.

In the meantime, murders keep climbing and the situation is so bad, Hugo’s Government has all but clamped down on news outlets so they do not report crime faithfully. The newspaper El Nacional was raided by the political police for publishing a graphic image of the bodies of murder victims stacked like abandoned furniture at the overwhelmed morgue in Caracas.

In the meantime, Venezuela’s murder rate is 54 per 100,000 and Caracas’ (Capital city) murder rate is 140 per 100,000.  The US’ rate is 5.4 per 100,000 with 10 times the population.

Tell me again that Gun Control works…