Just within the province of Granada there are 40,000 firearms held by licence owners, 90% of which are used by the hunting fraternity.
The big problem is the firearms black market in Granada, which is the prime source of firearms for the drug gangs dealing in hashish. So far guns of this kind have claimed twelve lives in the last six years.
The Armas y Explosivos section belonging to the Guardia Civil in Granada has been in existence for the last 35 years and at the moment is headed by Lieutenant Alberto Haro. “From here we keep exhaustive control over firearms and explosives,” he explained, adding, “when a firearms licence expires or the behaviour of the holder warrants it, the firearm is retired.”
It’s not so easy to acquire a firearm licence, either, as on average 70 requests to hold one are denied whereas around 100 existing ones are withdrawn.
What about explosives? There have a store (magazine) where explosives used in quarries are kept because a strict control is kept on them.
Lastly, the Guardia Civil supervise all the arms and explosives made in the munnitions factory El Farque, the firearms belonging to private security companies, and firework factories and shooting ranges. They even keep an eye on companies that provide fertilisers with a high concentration of ammonium nitrate.
(News: Granada, Andalucia)