Firearms in Costa Rica

I really don’t know where these people lived in C.R.? But I can tell you I have spent months at a time in the country, mostly Nosara where we had a house and for all intensive purposes lived there. No proplems, the house was secure we did not leave anything flashy laying around(actually we had nothing flashy)…just had a great time and took normal precautions based on our knowledge of C.R.. Also we have spents months living in Playa Hermosa just south of Jaco, same thing no real problems, Jaco may be another story but no problems there. In about 6 years of traveling to C.R. we had our tire punctured once while driving out of Alujela, I knew what was going on and proceeded to a safe place to park. I know we may have been lucky so far but don’t feel this country is rampant with violent crime. currently I live in Brooklyn, NY and can tell you there are areas you would not walk at night etc…If I felt I had to arm myself to live safely there I think I would just stay right where I am.

I couldn’t agree more…to say that you should arm yourself is completely ridiculous. With all due respect to D.J. Buckner, this kind of thinking is exactly the reason the U.S. is a country that lives in fear and is fueled by the media. Turn on any American news program and this is exactly what you see because violence sells multiple forms of media…print, television, or otherwise.

Arm yourself and that is exactly what you will attract, more criminals that are armed.

Protect yourself and your family, absolutely. But to say the only way to do this is by taking up arms is absurd. I believe fear breeds fear…guns breed more guns…and paranoia of violent crime will ultimately lead to more violent crime.

The world is a more violent place now because we have made it that way by sensationalizing crime through all media channels and telling people that essentially, “we need to protect ourselves” at all costs because there is some thug waiting around the corner to get us.

You ever notice that the ones that focus their energy on negative things end up drawing negative actions into their life? Hmmmm…

More guns less crime.

The vast majority of crime in Costa Rica would be described as non-violent. That being said, you still have the right to defend yourself and your family and protect your belongings. My experience here in the Central Pacific area is if the criminals know you are armed, they are not willing to risk their life to get your stereo and your microwave oven. To say that arming yourself only causes the criminals to arm themselves is a rediculous and unsubstantiated statement. Most crime here is local. Most people know who the criminals around a community are. The key to lessening the problem of crime is exactly what was previously said, better trained police, freeing the police to actually do their job, etc. Also their needs to be radical reforms in the judicial system that continually puts criminals back out on the streets, sometimes within 24 hours of a serious crime. In the mean time though, I have no problem with someone arming themselves to protect their property and their family, as long as they are first and foremost responsible gun owners. To accuse the original poster of acting outside the laws of Costa Rica is wrong. You admit you have no knowledge of the gun laws here, but take it upon yourself to accuse him of breaking the law. A foreigner can infact own and use a firearm here. There are certain steps you have to take, but it is not uncommon and is within the law.

That certainly doesn’t apply to America. In countries where guns are illegal, there is less crime, at least less violent crime.

So Don’t arm yourself and I will. I can promise you I will never harm you with my gun unless you want to harm me or steal from me… it’s that simple!

Violence isn’t the bad thing. People committing evil acts is. Using violence to stop evil is a good and noble thing. To say violence breeds more violence doesn’t mean anything. It is OK to kill someone who is in the process of murdering people. Violence did breed violence, so what? Don’t you want the murderer stopped?

Edited on Apr 20, 2007 11:27

It’s a bit tricky, we say it is wrong to kill, but then we kill under certain circumstances. Who are you to take a persons life, is life so cheap that you would kill a man because he broke into your house, wanted to steal your car? You thought he/she had a weapon so you shot another human? Maybe that person assaulting someone on the street for a few bucks could be your son strung out on drugs etc…should he be shot and his life taken for this digression? Can you be judge, jury and police officer within a split second? Let a trained police force carry guns, there’s very little violent crime in Costa Rica and most of the neigborhoods people on this board live in. I have lived in some pretty tough parts of NYC over the years and never felt I needed to carry a weapon or would be safer doing so. Advanced civilized countries should be looking for ways to elimenate violence from society, not recreate the wild west or emulate sierra leone…Look at death rates among countries like Japan, Canada, Northern Europe the U.K. from gun related murders…a fraction of what we have here in the U.S. lets follow there lead.