Esta ley enmienda la Ley de Armas de Puerto Rico para incluir al Director de la Oficina de Control de Drogas como miembro del Comité Interagencial Contra el Tráfico Ilegal de Armas. La enmienda reconoce la relación entre el tráfico de drogas y el tráfico ilegal de armas y busca mejorar la coordinación entre agencias para combatir ambos problemas.
(Approved December 8, 2002)
To amend Section 2.15 of Act No. 404 of September 11, 2000, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Weapons Law" in order to include the Director of the Drug Control Office as part of the Interagency Committee Against the Illegal Traffic of Weapons.
Section 2.15 of Act No. 404 of September 11, 2000, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Weapons Law," establishes an Interagency Committee Against the Illegal Traffic of Weapons without prejudice nor impairment of the obligations and powers that rest on the Puerto Rico Police Superintendent. Said Committee shall be composed of several secretaries of the Governor's Cabinet, as well as representatives of the target shooting sport, and a private citizen, and it shall primarily be in charge of evaluating the problem of the importing, traffic and illegal use of arms and ammunition in Puerto Rico, in order to detect, and disarticulate the points, places or circumstances that propitiate the introduction and illegal traffic of these arms and ammunition. It is also responsible for designing coordinated action plans to achieve said purposes, and to improve the weapons and ammunition registration and control systems in Puerto Rico.
Act No. 3 of March 13, 2001, created the Puerto Rico Drug Control Office. Said office has the purpose of formulating, integrating and channeling the resources of government against the traffic, sale and
consumption of controlled substances in Puerto Rico, as well as advising and providing educational resources for the prevention of the drug addiction problem in our society. Since this office did not exist when the Weapons Law was approved, it did not include its Director among the members of the Interagency Committee instituted therein.
Experience has shown that the problem of drug use, abuse and trafficking, and the illegal traffic of firearms are intimately related. Therefore, this Legislature deems it is necessary to include the Director of the Puerto Rico Drug Control Office among the members of the Interagency Committee Against the Illegal Traffic of Weapons.
Section 1.- Section 2.15 of Act No. 404 of September 11, 2000, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 2.15.- Interagency Committee Against the Illegal Traffic of Weapons
The Interagency Committee Against the Illegal Traffic of Firearms is hereby established, without prejudice or impairment of the obligations and powers that rest on the Superintendent. This Committee shall include the Secretary of the Department of Justice, who shall preside; the Superintendent of Police; the Secretary of the Treasury; the Executive Director of the Ports Authority; the Director of the Drug Control Office; a representative of the target shooting sport and a representative of the hunting sport, certified by the Target Shooting Federations of Puerto Rico and appointed by the Secretary of the Sports and Recreation Department; and a citizen who shall represent the public interest, who shall be selected and appointed by consensus of the officials who make up the Committee." Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 274 (H.B. 2643) of the $4^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend Section 2.15 of Act No. 404 of September 11, 2000, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Weapons Law" in order to include the Director of the Drug Control Office as part of the Interagency Committee Against the Illegal Traffic of Weapons, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $13^{ ext {th }}$ of August of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director