Ecuador: legislature approves protocol against illicit manufacuturing, trafficking in firearms

The full Legislature unanimously approved yesterday the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, which includes the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The purpose of this international agreement is to promote, facilitate and strengthen cooperation between States in order to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms and develop strategies to combat organized crime and other forms of violence. Fernando Bustamante, president of the Integration Committee, said in Parliament that to reduce the level of violence in the States is necessary to establish tighter controls and improved the people’s access to handguns. Read Article