Derecho constitucional de la igualdad y su garantía estatal en el marco del decreto 1417 de 2021

Abstract

The reduced lethality weapons market in Colombia is a phenomenon that has been increasing in recent years. The importation of replicas of non-lethal weapons captured the attention of thousands of citizens who saw in their features, prices and ease of acquisition an opportunity to acquire an implement for personal defense, sports practice or simply as a collector's item. The best received article within this phenomenon is what we know today as a “traumatic” weapon. This type of weapon has physical characteristics almost identical to real weapons and receives its name due to the trauma caused by the projectile it ejects once it is fired (rubber ball). In principle and during the first years, the regulations that governed the acquisition and carrying of these weapons were lax, which caused that due to the great resemblance to real weapons, they began to be used to commit crimes by passing them off as real weapons and taking advantage of the fact that in panic situations such as robberies, no one would stop to think if it was a lethal weapon or not. Due to the public order problems that these elements unleashed on the market, the legislator was forced to take action on the matter, issuing laws that controlled the distribution and possession of traumatic weapons, therefore, in 2021, decree 1417 was issued. of 2021 in which its objective is the “classification and regulation of traumatic weapons”. Although it is true that in matters of traumatic weapons a regulation was necessary given the effects that their circulation meant, in this writing we find a situation that we consider may be against the constitutional norm, very specifically, bearing and possession, to which citizens between 18 and 24 years of age are not susceptible.