Inside Mexico’s only gun store
Hugo Joy Gallegos Sanchez, 32, of Mexico City examines a handgun at the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales, the only outlet for legal gun purchases in Mexico.
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)
Gun buyers sometimes wait for hours for their paperwork to be processed at Mexico’s Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales.
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)
A customer takes delivery of a hunting rifle at the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales. Mexican law allows citizens to have one handgun for personal protection and up to nine rifles, as long as they can prove they are members of shooting or hunting clubs.
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)
A customer walks the aisles of the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales in Mexico City. Prospective buyers must present at least six forms of identification, including proof of employment, and have a clean criminal record.
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)
Col. Eduardo Tellez Moreno, who runs the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales, said he believes gun ownership is a privilege.
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)
Customer Eduardo Nieto Rodriguez of Mexico City, left, makes sure the serial number on a handgun he’s buying matches the number on his registration.
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)
(Meghan Dhaliwal / For The Times)