Mexico to buy MXN $228 million in weapons

Mexico

’s government is preparing a purchase of handguns and long weapons , as well as ammunition and accessories, for MXN $228.9 million to equip state and municipal police forces in the country according to the new national police model.

They are planning to purchase a total of 9,256 weapons at a low cost with resources from the Public Security Contributions Fund (FASP) and the program of Performance Enhancing in Terms of Public Security (Fortaseg) , which will be approved on the 2020 Expenditures Budget .

David Pérez Esparza

, director of the National Information Center (CNI), of the Executive Ministry of the Public Security National System (SESNSP) , explained that the objective is for corporations to have better weapons and tactical equipment for their regional security tasks, but it also standardizes the purchase and the kinds of weapons to be acquired.

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“We want police officers to be at their 100%, not only in guns but also in radio, equipment, wages. There are five projects , all of them directed towards the national police model , which is basically the most important reform in this administration, and even more important than the National Guard because it is important, at the same time it is a federal issue,” he said.

In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL , Pérez Esparza said that they will also supply the public security forces with boots, cameras, radios, and tablets, through the model of consolidated purchase, “a very intelligent [way] of reducing costs and to do less with more.”

He even revealed the CNI is endorsing a proposal to reduce police work shifts, who usually work 24x24 shifts .

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“What we want is for police officers to be happy and competent, to be able to file complaints, to be well-paid, to sleep and eat well, for example; at the CNI we are endorsing shift reductions,” he said.

The officer explained that they are looking to standardize the purchase of weapons , since currently, the National Defense Ministry (Sedena) , the only organism with faculties to buy weapons, has to meet requests from the states and the municipalities, of different kinds and amounts, and in different moments, which hinders not only their acquisition and administration, but also their maintenance and provision.

“Currently, Sedena buys between 70 and 80 kinds of weapons [for local police officers], it can bring whatever [states and municipalities] request, with certain caliber limits , but it is quite expensive for Sedena to fulfill every whim,” he said.

SESNSP

detailed that it is currently in process of a deal between Sedena , states, and municipalities to determine a catalog of 10 weapons to purchase.

“The idea is to consolidate which are the most purchased weapons , that does not mean states and municipalities cannot buy another kind, but ideally, Sedena wants to define 10 kinds of guns, for example, 10 revolver type, 10 rifles, 10 shotguns,” he added.

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For instance, as explained by the officer, there are very popular weapons, such as the Colt and Sig Sauer guns , “that have always been the most purchased ones because they’re cheap and sturdy.”

According to a SESNSP report , the most purchased weapons for municipal and state police officers are Mossberg, Hatsan, Ata Arms, Browning, and Beretta 12 millimeters of caliber shotguns.

Besides Beretta, Glock, I.W.I, Ceska, Sig Sauer, Browning, Herstal, Stoeger, and Taurus 9 millimeters of caliber handguns.

According to the document, between four and five companies collect 90% of handguns manufacturing , so, according to the CNI director, it is not necessary to buy so many kinds: “Four or five are enough,” he considers.

He pointed out that since last September, the SESNSP started the design of minimum standards for the storage of weapons and equipment, for there are approximately 23,000 official weapons missing or stolen in all the country between 2000 and 2019.

The latter, he added, due to the lack of standardized protocols for the management and care of weapons in municipalities and states.

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