The municipal police must have a firearm, as proposed by the local police commission in Parliament.
- The Municipal Police Officers of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa present a report with the criteria for determining the base material to be used. The Basque Government’s Department of Security will prepare this year the decree on the basis of the report. Currently five out of six policemen carry a gun.
A working group of the Commission for the Coordination of Local Police has proposed on Monday in the Basque Parliament a draft that will serve as a basis for the preparation of the Department of Security decree. All the agents of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa have decided to use firearms. The 9 mm caliber Parabellum pistol shall be part of the daily working material and shall have a minimum load of 13 shots. The City Hall will be responsible for its delivery.
The document sets out a number of conditions: to have them only when they are in service, to use the pistol when the life of agents or of others or “citizen security is at serious risk” and in accordance with the principles of “suitability, necessity and proportionality”. EH Bildu parliamentarian Julen Arzuaga has questioned what the principle of proportionality is. The report notes that the use of pistols will be “an extreme measure” and no shots will be thrown into the sky, for example, to intimidate people.
According to the Department of Security, 80 per cent of CAPV municipalities have firearms, five out of six police officers (about 2,750 police).
The objective of the Commission for the Coordination of Local Police has been to agree on the basic materials, “technical means and defence material” of the agents. All municipalities should meet these common criteria and offer this minimum material. Besides pistols, protective vests, anti-cutting gloves, hand irons, rigid or extensible blades have been proposed, among others.
Against the obligation to carry guns
EH Bildu and Elkarrekin We oppose the obligation to carry firearms. EH Bildu Parliamentarian, Arzuaga, warned that this is a topic that “concerns” them, considering that the agents of some municipalities that EH Bildu is sending also use firearms: “We want to set clear criteria,” he said.
He recalls that in Eibar and Tolosa they have been forced to do so from the courts and confirms that they will support “municipal autonomy” in this matter. It is critical that they have been hindered from taking part in the drafting of the proposal and that they have not been allowed to give their opinion. “There is no need to generalize firearms in the Municipal Guard,” he said.
We parliamentarian Gustavo Angulo has also questioned whether any municipal agent is carrying the guns and criticised the “lack of transparency” in the matter. It asks that each City Hall decide whether or not to authorize firearms.
The other parties have accepted the use of pistols, namely PNV, PSE-EE, PP+CC’s and Vox.
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