Chile Forum

I'm in total agreement with Magnyz and Play outside.That's just one of the many reasons why I have decided to go back home for good.I don't want to live full of paranoia as most americans do in this country and they are arming themselves to the teeth.Basta!

O.K. I think we can all agree to set aside the vicious rabbit problem and gun ownership (they are everywhere).

I do believe there is a time and place for a gun, and for deadly force. My issue is more with the practicality of gun ownership as a means of defense in Chile.

The big problem as I see it for the most part with a lot of gun owners, especially in the States, is that the guns tend to bread a false sense of security and perhaps an inherent form of paranoia that leads to their use.

For one, 90% of gun owners really should not own a gun, because they simply do not have the training to use them properly.

Just because you hit a target 100% of the time standing still at a target range in the day light, does not mean you will be able to hit the broad side of barn in the dark with the adrenalin pumping. I know, everyone likes to think they can. But really?

Military personnel and police officers are suppose to have that training, and they are constantly shooting their partners in the back, hitting the wrong people, and so on.

Now, lets move on to the threat assessment in Chile that warrant that you would need a gun. Chile is in Latin America, but it is not Guatemala, Peru, Argentina, or just about any other Latin American country where I would say a gun might be a good idea. I have been shot at in at least three other Latin American countries.

We are talking about a population of 15 million people mas o menos. What percentage of that population is really a threat psychologically and has the means to really do you harm?

likely something around 1% in total or less. Then we can say at least 1/3 or more of that 1% that is a real threat lives in Santiago because about 1/3 of the country lives in Santiago. Because big cities are almost always the source of most crime stats, we could say Santiago is likely has 50% or more of the countries really dangerous criminals. Lets say over 50%+ of those people tend to stay in the dangerous parts of Santiago.

As you are not going to be allowed to wonder around Chile, no matter how much paperwork you do with a concealed gun, you can only defend your home.

So, now your best chance of having a criminal you need to shoot, and a gun with which to shoot them is in your home in Santiago. Basically you would have to be living in a bad part of Santiago, with no security such as alarms, night watchmen, and so on, and be at home. In other words you would basically have to be baiting criminals and waiting for them in order to really shoot one. In which case you are basically committing unjustified homicide (no matter how justified it might be under the law). And don't forget, you still got to hit them in the dark, and not your neighbor next door.

The practical use factor is fairly limited, relative to the amount of security you are gaining. Buy a big dog, a frying pan, a can of pepper spray.

I lived in Las Vegas for years. There was likely more homicides on any given night in my neighborhood than there are in all of Chile per year. As I recall there is only about 100-200 homicides a year in all of Chile, and that includes things like domestic disputes, drug dealers killing each other. Deaths from real random violent type crimes likely amounted to a few dozen last year across Chile, and again most where in Santiago.

I will admit my research has now started only wikipedia, but it appears Chile has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world. Second only to Singapore and beating my native NZ (where we shoot lots of bunnies cos there's nothing there to eat them).

As I said, disclaimer as it's wikipedia but "The United States has the highest rates among developed countries, often accounted to the loose firearm laws in the U.S. compared to other developed countries."

So. shall we keep it that way, hmn?

Still the most dangerous place I have ever been is the United States. I have witnessed more shootings and murders in the good parts of Las Vegas than any other part of the World.

...

anyway, did anyone get to the bottom of permits for basic farm-use weapons?

El p,

Are there any prairie dogs (the animals related to ground squirrels, chipmunks and marmots.) around there. They can dig a whole network of holes. They might be indigenous to the US though.

M.

And are they armed?

I guess it depends on what state (Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming) their towns are located and if there is a waiting period for ownership. I would think that they would prefer the smaller caliber arms, maybe a derringer. I am not sure if they hold the gun with one paw or two paws. Maybe some like el p, could enlighten us on this.


On second thought I guess it depends what they are doing at the time. If they are out hunting rabbits, then it would be a one paw hold and the other paw holding the chicha.

Maybe the first question should have been. What are the requirements for gun ownership in Chile. Seems you all have your pants in a wad because someone used the term "concealed" and surmised that this person is one of "those gun people" Don't you think there are reasons to own a gun depending on the situation and yes there are many idiots in this world that really can't be trusted to be responsible in anything or with anyone. My inlaws who are Chileans, all live in Chile and range in occupations from Government admin., Army base camander/Dentist, Medical Doctor, resturant owner and Computer engineer have all told me that you really do not need to keep a gun unless you live in the country and a shotgun is the norm. That crime is low unless you live in a bad area and then a dog works best but, gang related crime is growing at an alarming rate in Santiago and other cities and there may be a need to be more careful where you go and when. I believe that this could be anywhere in the world also and in Chile have always looked at those private security people and the bars on most all windows as a sign of keeping people honest.
As to Agentx3 / supposed attitude, he is right on target so to speak. As to others , denial of history is criminal.

Having surmised nothing about G whatsoever, I still am interested in the answer to the original question.

Mlightheart, thanks for the imagery.

Here was a quote from the other thread I thought I would copy over for reference:

In terms of fire arms, it is a paperwork mess. I caution here that we are still working on getting translations of the law. It is very complicated, and a bad translation could get someone in a lot of trouble in terms of the type of weapons you can own.

A few of the restrictions we have managed to parse out so far. You must be a member of a shooting club. The firearm must be registered to you at the time you buy it. The firearm must be submitted for a ballistics test. You must take a class and a test to prove that you know how to maintain and handle a firearm and understand the law. You must submit a doctors certification that you are not legally insane.

We are trying to contact one of the shooting clubs to get better definitions of the technical aspects. The law appears to say that you can not have anything over .22 with rifling on the boar, then contradicts it self by saying that they are allowed. You are allowed to have a .44 hand gun however, or a 12 gauge shot gun. Which is why we are trying to clarify what it says. Those are some fairly big dangerous weapons, if the intent of the law is to stop people from having big dangerous weapons. We are hoping the shooting clubs will have some tips and secrets for sorting out the whole bureaucratic mess.

This is all separate from a hunting permit. Those require that you take a test to identify the different species of animals and the laws for them.

We never did get any word back from the shooting clubs we contacted.

Also from the other thread, and we have encountered before is that you must keep the gun at the residence where you register it. If you take it off the property, ammunition and weapon need to be separate.

A dark humor break.

I tried to find the original Ananova link but had to copy and paste from someone who did preserve the story.

--eeuunikkeiexpat
__________________________________

A man who used two M16 rifles, a machete and 1,600 rounds of ammunition to steal a sheep has been dubbed the Chilean Rambo by police.

The 31-year-old man stole the sheep from a farm in Ovalle, north of Santiago, Las Ultimas Noticias online reports.

A security guard challenged him as he walked out of the farm with his haul but backed down when the robber threatened him with his arsenal.

The guard called the police who finally arrested the man after a seven hour operation in which gunfire was exchanged.

A police spokesman said: "The man was crazy. He thought he was Rambo and that it was his right to take the sheep. He was very keen on using the weapons and it took us a lot of talking to make him give up on the idea.

"He said he found the weapons in an abandoned cave and that he felt it was his destiny to use them."

Source: Ananova

And no prarie dogs came to the rescue? That answers that question then.

Thanks for the info Charles. Never simple is it!