Spain's Far-Right Vox Party Leader Calls For Weakening Of Country's Gun Restriction Laws

Spanish far-right Vox party leader, Santiago Abascal, called for the Spanish government to change the law to allow a wider selection of Spanish citizens to possess and carry weapons

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2019) Spanish far-right Vox party leader, Santiago Abascal, called for the Spanish government to change the law to allow a wider selection of Spanish citizens to possess and carry weapons.

"We need to make radical changes to the law immediately, so that Spaniards, who have no criminal record and are psychologically stable, could not only possess weapons in their homes, but also use them in case of a life-threatening situation," Abascal said in an interview with Spanish news outlet Armas.es.

Abascal added that the changes to the law would allow people to avoid problems of prosecution that people were currently facing when using weapons in self-defense. He cited several cases, when people, who had been attacked inside their homes, fired their weapons at their attackers in self-defense and consequentially faced criminal charges and fines from Spanish courts, many times greater than the charges that the attackers faced for their crimes.

Under current laws in Spain, which are strictly regulated, the possession of firearms is allowed only with a license. Licenses are only issued to adult Spanish citizens who have passed psychometric evaluation, and a theory and practice test and only for specific types of firearms like hunting, or if a person can prove that he requires special protection.

Abascal's far-right anti-immigration Vox party has been gaining support throughout Spain. In December, the party won 12 seats in the regional Andalusian elections, the first time a far-right party gained significant representation since the death of Spanish fascist dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. According to a poll conducted last week by Spanish news outlet El Pais, 12 percent of Spanish voters supported the Vox party in the upcoming early parliamentary elections to be held April 28.