OAN Staff Addie Davis
4:20 PM – Wednesday, September 9, 2026
President Abelardo de la Espriella, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has announced that he signed a decree lifting restrictions on permits for carrying firearms in Colombia.
During his presidential campaign, De la Espriella ran on a hardline platform against “transnational crime and the radical left.” When signing the decree, he argued that previous suspensions left law-abiding citizens defenseless while criminals carried illegal weapons freely.
“For years, the law-abiding citizen was restricted while criminals continued to arm themselves illegally to the hilt. That has to change,” he said in a Tuesday social media post.
Though the decree lifts the general suspension of permits for carrying firearms, stringent possession rules will remain in place, De la Espriella noted.
“Let it be clear: this does NOT mean indiscriminate carrying. Strict controls, requirement, and permits from the competent authorities remain in place,” he stated. “What ends is the general suspension that turned the prohibition into the rule.”
According to him, from January 1st to September 3rd, the Colombian Public Forces seized 15,700 firearms, of which more than 14,000 were linked to the carrying out of a crime.
He also stated that 980 weapons were tied to dissident groups, with 380 of those being rifles and 65 being 60-millimeter mortars.
“That is the firepower the State must pursue and destroy,” he asserted. “To the good citizen who rigorously complies with the law, guarantees within the law. To the illegally armed criminal, the full weight of the law and all the legitimate force of the State.”
“Colombia’s security cannot continue to be built by disarming the law-abiding citizen and leaving bandits armed,” he added.
De la Espriella, backed by Trump, won the presidential run-off election in June, promoting the vision of the “Patria Milagro” (Miracle Homeland) for the people of Colombia.
Also on Tuesday, De la Espriella and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed two bilateral agreements related to critical and rare earth minerals and civil nuclear cooperation.
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