On January 8, 1959, Fidel Castro made his victorious entry into Havana, which signaled an end to the Cuban revolution. The very next day Castro’s henchmen began seizing personally owned firearms and disarming the entire population, allegedly to prevent a counter-coup.
Belgian FNs, American M1 and M2 carbines and a wide variety of submachineguns, shotguns and handguns were all seized from Castro’s forces. The propaganda machine fully supported the weapon seizure. Olive Green, the Cuban Army magazine claimed there was a large number of negligent discharges taking place because the guerillas were carrying their weaponry “as if they were adornments.”
Today, just 90 miles from the Florida Keys, Cuba has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world. Sixty-six years after his revolution, Castro’s henchmen are still disarming the Cuban populace, even though there’s not much left for them to find.
Case in point: Last week Cuban police arrested a man in Havana for what they described as an “arsenal of weapons” in his home, according to one website that covers the country’s legal affairs.
A raid by the Cuban Criminal Investigation and Community Work Forces was carried out February 18 at 6:40 a.m. in the Arroyo Naranjo region of Havana. It was led by a police sector chief.
“The agents discovered a modern pearl shotgun with optical sights, a .22 caliber shotgun, and more than 150 cartridges of various calibers,” the news story states. “Also found were two cartridge belts, one containing 27 bullets and the other 18 shells, in addition to several cases and shotgun wadding.”
One of the photos taken by Cuban police shows how this “arsenal of weapons” was mostly junk, incapable of firing, consisting of an air rifle, pellets and what officials called a “.22 caliber shotgun.” Police also found belts of old shotgun shells and a collection of knives, bayonets and machetes.
Despite the age, lack of ammunition and the poor condition of the alleged weaponry, police were jubilant.
“An entire arsenal hidden in the heart of the neighborhood,” the official stated while suppling photos of the raid, some of which were shared on social media.
The homeowner was arrested and faces “serious charges,” the website claims. That much is true. Violation of Cuban anti-gun laws can lead to years behind bars. Committing a crime with an unlicensed weapon can result in life in prison.
Castro’s paranoia
After his revolution, Castro gave dozens of speeches on the need to relinquish arms.
“I appeal to the public to disarm the ambitious. Why are clandestine arms being stored at this very minute? Why are arms being hidden at distinct points of the capital? Why are arms being smuggled at this moment?” Castro said just days after entering Havana. “I tell you that there are members of certain revolutionary organizations who are smuggling and storing arms. All the arms that were found by the rebel army are stored and locked in barracks, where they belong. What are these arms for? Against whom are they going to be used?”
Several years later, Radio Havana warned all Cuban citizens that they still needed to relinquish their arms.
“All citizens must turn in their combat weapons. Civilians must take arms to police stations, soldiers to military headquarters,” the national radio stated.
Violators, the radio station warned, would not be prosecuted by the criminal court, but by Revolutionary Tribunals, which had already sentenced more than 1,100 Cubans to death since the revolution ended six years earlier.
Castro’s position on civilian firearm ownership had changed 100-percent. Just a few years earlier he had said, “This is how democracy works: it gives rifles to farmers, to students, to women, to Negroes, to the poor, and to every citizen who is ready to defend a just cause.”
His change convinced many Cubans that they needed to flee the island for their freedom.
Castro, who’s personal paranoia has been well documented, did not want anyone other than his most trusted revolutionaries to have access to firearms.
Cuba’s current law
Like the Castro brothers, Cuba’s current ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel is the most powerful man in Cuba. As First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, he is also very anti-gun.
Today, civilians cannot own handguns. Nor is there any way civilians can own any semi-automatic firearm. Civilians cannot carry firearms for self-defense. Personal firearms must be stored securely, and police may inspect them whenever they want. Ammunition remains extremely difficult to find.
As a result, personal firearms in the island nation are almost nonexistent. Guns are very, very rare. Most are owned by members of the military, state security agents or a few credentialed members of hunting clubs or shooting associations. Many of these private clubs have switched to pellet guns since both rimfire and centerfire ammunition is so hard to find.
Most police officers must leave their firearms at their stations when not on duty. Most soldiers receive unloaded AKs for training.
The government has never stopped trying to take away their citizens’ firearms or their firearm rights.
In 2010, the government announced yet another two-month amnesty for unregistered civilian firearms. Those who passed firearms aptitude and psychological testing were allegedly allowed to keep their weapons, the government claimed, but no numbers were ever published. It is not known if anyone was allowed to keep their guns.
Both the Castros and Díaz-Canel maintained an island that’s completely free of anything close to our Second Amendment rights. Any law or rule that would legalize firearms would lead to violence, Cuba’s people mistakenly believe.
Our United States Embassy tells another story and warns of “increased caution in Cuba due to crime.”
“Petty crime, such as pick pocketing, purse snatchings, and car break-ins, is a threat for tourists in Cuba. Also, violent crime, including armed robbery and homicide, sometimes occurs in Cuba,” the U.S. Embassy warns on its website. “Travel outside of the Havana area for U.S. Embassy employees requires a special notification process which may affect the Embassy’s ability to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Cuba.”
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
One more reason I think trade and travel with Cuba should be opened up. Can you imagine if the Giffords/Mom’s Demand Action types were free to go live in a bastion of safety where guns were few and far between? How much nicer might our country be with them all in Cuba?
Cuba and California appear to have the same view on firearms and freedom . Dictators love total control over the masses .
The last 20 years have seen government grow very fast, spreading out and encroaching on space belonging inherently to the individual. Lots of ground has been lost, and will be difficult to regain. One obvious area is government’s embrace of the “woke” ideas, and the resulting loss of freedom of speech. Certain words and phrases now constitute “hate speech,” with the minimum result of silence by intimidation. Many Americans have been subtly enslaved by their own government to support other Americans on “the basis of need. ”We have an illusion of ownership, but that’s really all it is. even after you pay… Read more »
and we all know the end result of taking all the arms away from the honest citizens has resulted in the lowest crime rate in the world, right?
Cannot respond to responses until admin gets its act together.
Relatives of mine fled Cuba in the 1960’s with just the shirts on their backs. If you don’t like guns or don’t want guns, good, I respect you. But don’t dictate to me about my wanting arms.
By the way, Mexico is not much different than Cuba, when it comes to arms.
Here is your free dose of Cuban Counter Intelligence for the day. The Venceremos Brigade formed by the Students for a Democratic (sic) society in 1969 has been the training ground for Progressive New Left and communist students. White punks on dope from the US, Canada and many Western European countries go to Cuba to get trained in how to upend real democratic institutions and replace them with totalitarian regimes. The current mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass is an alum of this program and reflects the kind of dysfunctional Marxist world view of its graduates. So if you are… Read more »
It’s easy to mock the raid on the “major arsenal” by this communist government, but remember, in this supposedly free republic of ours, the ATF routinely conducts raids on “major violators” and routinely ASSASINATES them.
How does a society, ours, or the Cubans, deal with such acts committed in the name of “law enforcement”?
Because the number one priority of a Communist Revolution is prevent the counter-revolution. Hence why the American DemoCommie Party wants to take our guns.
Looks like employment opportunities for soon to be fired ATF agents. Seriously, this is exactly what the democrat/socialist/progressive party wants America to look like.
Of course they have NO FREEDOM….DO YOU WANT TO ‘FIX’ THE PROBLEM? Fly a handful of blacked-out C-130’s low all across the countryside tonight, dumping out crates of AK-47’s and RPG’s. Before noon, tomorrow, all the people would be free.