Firearms regulation in Mexico is governed by legislation which sets the legality by which members of the armed forces, law enforcement and private citizens may acquire, own, possess and carry firearms; covering rights and limitations to individuals—including hunting and shooting sport participants, property and personal protection personnel such as bodyguards, security officers, private security, and extending to VIPs (diplomats, public officials, celebrities).
Mexico has restrictive laws regarding gun possession. There are only two stores in the entire country, DCAM near the capital, and OTCA, in Apodaca, Nuevo León. It also takes months of paperwork to have a chance at purchasing one legally. That said, there is a common misconception that firearms are illegal in Mexico and that no person may possess them. This belief originates from the general perception that only members of law enforcement, the armed forces, or those in armed security protection are authorized to have them. While it is true that Mexico possesses strict gun laws, where most types and calibers are reserved to military and law enforcement, the acquisition and ownership of certain firearms and ammunition remains a constitutional right to all Mexican citizens and foreign legal residents; given the requirements and conditions to exercise such right are fulfilled in accordance to the law.
The right to keep and bear arms was first recognized as a constitutional right under Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution of 1857. However, as part of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, Article 10 was changed where-by the right to keep and bear arms was given two separate definitions: the right to keep (derecho a poseer in Spanish) and the right to bear (derecho a portar in Spanish). The new version of Article 10 specified that citizens were entitled to keep arms (own them) but may only bear them (carry them) among the population in accordance to police regulation. This modification to Article 10 also introduced the so-called ...[arms] for exclusive use of the [military]... (in Spanish: ...de uso exclusivo del Ejército...), dictating that the law would stipulate which weapons were reserved for the armed forces, including law enforcement agencies, for being considered weapons of war.
In 1971, Article 10 of the present Constitution was changed to limit the right to keep arms within the home only (in Spanish: ...derecho a poseer armas en su domicilio...) and reserved the right to bear arms outside the home only to those explicitly authorized by law (i.e. police, military, armed security officers). The following year, the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives came into force and gave the federal government complete jurisdiction and control to the legal proliferation of firearms in the country; at the same time, heavily limiting and restricting the legal access to firearms by civilians.
As a result of the changes to Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution and the enactment of the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives, openly carrying a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon in public is virtually forbidden to private citizens, unless explicitly authorized by the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA). For purposes of personal protection, firearms are only permitted within the place of residence and of the type and caliber permitted by law.
History
Firearms have played a significant role in the History of Mexico, and the country was founded with a strong presence and adhesion to arms, though Mexico has a long history of passing gun restriction laws. Mexican Golden Age films often depicted the protagonists and antagonists as gun-slinging cowboys and charros, an example of a cultural attachment to guns which greatly differs on different sides of the border. In the United States, the right to bear arms is recognized, allowing citizens to carry guns. In contrast, in Mexico, the public possession of guns is often in defiance of strict national gun laws, marking a significant difference in the legal attitudes towards firearms in the two countries.
It was through the means of armed combat that Mexico achieved its independence from Spain. From then on, the course of history was marked by several armed conflicts, including the American (1846–48) and French (1861–67) conflicts, as well as indigenous struggles due to the several forms of government that ruled over Mexican territory, culminating with the Mexican Revolution (1910–20) and the Cristero War (1926–29).
In 1972, the government modified Article 10 of the Constitution and enacted the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives, limiting gun ownership to small-caliber handguns, heavily restricting the right to carry outside the homeplace and ending a cultural attachment to firearms by shutting down gun stores, outlawing the private sale of firearms, and closing down public shooting facilities.
In addition, the government has conducted gun-exchange programs from time to time, where citizens are encouraged to exchange any firearm (registered, unregistered, legal or illegal) for either a cash incentive or groceries, without fear of civil or criminal prosecution.
Historical legislation Prior to the Independence of Mexico, the first official record of a restriction on the possession of firearms occurred in 1811 as the Mexican War of Independence was taking place. This restriction came about as an attempt to stop the Miguel Hidalgo-led insurgency against the Royalists of Spain. In 1812 and 1814 the Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy in Article 56 and Constitutional Decree for the Liberty of Mexican America in Article 81 prohibited appearing at Vestry meetings with weapons, but did not limit their possession or carrying on other sites such as the home.
Following Mexico's independence as the First Mexican Empire in 1822, the Political Provisional Regulation of the Mexican Empire in Article 54 made a reference to the carrying of prohibited arms (in Spanish: ...el porte de armas prohibidas...) and by 1824, following the establishment of the United Mexican States, it was declared that no person shall carry any type of weapon. The inclination to adopt a complete ban on firearms came as a precaution and attempt to prevent another armed insurrection that would put the new republic in jeopardy. After this measure, four years followed without war under President Guadalupe Victoria.
However, the results of the presidential elections of September 1828 were disputed by runner-up candidate Vicente Guerrero and he called for a revolution, provoking Congress to annul the election and elect Guerrero as president. After he took office in April 1829, civil unrest continued and he was ousted by mid-December only for two other men to serve as president before the end of the year. After Anastasio Bustamante took office in January 1830, considering the instability of the previous year, a mandate was issued that required all in unlawful possession of firearms to surrender them to the government and made it illegal to pawn or purchase them. Between 1831 and 1835, additional mandates were issued voiding all gun licenses previously issued and restricted the issuance of new firearm permits only to those deemed "peaceful, known and honest" and made acquiring a license to carry a more rigorous process.
Continuing several decades of instability, Mexico became once again a federal republic and given the important role firearms had played to establish the second republic, the Constitution of 1857 under Article 10, recognized for the first time the right for people to keep and bear arms as a constitutional guarantee. Also in 1857, another mandate was issued requiring a firearms license in order to carry lawfully. In February 1861, the Secretary of War (now the Secretariat of National Defense) issued a notice reassuring all citizens the guarantee to keep and carry firearms, and expressing that considering that under no circumstances could peaceful and lawful citizens be disarmed, only weapons exclusive of the military would be banned. In December of the same year, a mandate required all persons to surrender such banned weapons.
In 1893, new regulation on the bearing of arms was issued, recognizing the right to keep and the right to carry while regulating the issuance of licenses to carry, which conditioned that weapons only be carried in a manner that they are visible.
At the height of the Mexican Revolution, the Constitution of 1917 was enacted and Article 10, carried over from the previous constitution, was modified to define three separate things: one) it recognized the right of the people to keep and bear arms, two) it excepted from civilian possession weapons prohibited by law or reserved for the military, and three) it required that weapons carried in public be done in accordance to the law.
The 1960s were marked by a series of anti-government movements that escalated to the Tlatelolco massacre, prompting then-President Echeverría and Mexican Congress to modify Article 10 of the Constitution to its present form today, which permits private ownership of firearms within the home only. In January 1972, with the enactment of the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives, the legal proliferation of firearms among the population was heavily limited and restricted.
Since its conception, the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives has had several of its articles reformed in an effort to further restrict firearm ownership and their proliferation by imposing stricter rules for their acquisition and tougher penalties for violations.
Constitutional rights Three major events mark the right to keep and bear arms as a constitutional guarantee:
Constitution of 1857 To keep and bear arms was first recognized as a constitutional right through Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution of 1857:
(original text) Artículo 10: Todo hombre tiene derecho de poseer y portar armas para su seguridad y legítima defensa. La ley señalará cuáles son las prohibidas y la pena en que incurren los que las portaren.
(translation) Article 10: Every man has the right to keep and to carry arms for his security and legitimate defense. The law will indicate which arms are prohibited and the penalty for those who would carry them.
Article 10 of the 1857 Constitution gave citizens the right to keep and bear arms, both in their homes and in public for their security and defense. Legislation was to indicate which types of weapons would be forbidden and the penalties imposed to violators.
Constitution of 1917 Sixty years later, with the introduction of the Constitution of 1917, Article 10 gives two separate definitions to the right to keep and bear arms:
(original text) Artículo 10: Los habitantes de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos tienen libertad de poseer armas de cualquiera clase, para su seguridad y legítima defensa, hecha excepción de las prohibidas expresamente por la ley y de las que la nación reserve para el uso exclusivo del Ejército, Armada y Guardia Nacional; pero no podrán portarlas en las poblaciones sin sujetarse a los reglamentos de policía..
(translation) Article 10: The inhabitants of the United Mexican States are free to possess weapons of any kind, for their security and legitimate defense, with exception of those expressly prohibited by law and that the nation reserves for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy and National Guard; but they may not carry them within populations without being subject to police regulations.
Article 10 of the 1917 Constitution still allowed citizens to keep and bear arms in the home or outside, while restricting those weapons reserved to the military but required that those who carry weapons in public, adhere to applicable police regulations.
Reform to Article 10 in 1971 Fifty-four years later, Article 10 was reformed to its actual text in force today: