Man Sentences to Jail for Gun Found in his Dead Father’s House
A recent prison sentence of a father of two young children has drawn fire on social media. On Friday, Ramiro de la Rosa from Duck Run Two was sentenced to three years in prison after police found a gun inside a house his father had occupied until his recent death. Although the gun was licensed to his father and would not expire until October, police detained Ramiro. He was arraigned in the San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court and pleaded guilty to the charge of being in possession of an unlicensed firearm. News Five spoke with attorney Arthur Saldivar who told us while survivors ought to report guns to the department, he believes the police acted unreasonably and the case is ripe for appeal. He also talked about what people can do if someone dies leaving behind a gun they would like to keep.
On the Phone: Arthur Saldivar, Attorney-at-Law
“The firearm in question was legitimately licensed; the license holder died. Now if it is that the police is telling you that the firearm is illegal, once the license holder has died, then it is their responsibility to come and collect it when he dies or to ensure at the time of death that they know where it is and how to secure it. But if they haven’t done anything; made no affirmative move to come and collect it, how can they come and hold somebody responsible who lives in the yard? That makes no sense! That is a violation of his right! It has to be appealed because from my understanding of it, he doesn’t even live in the house. He lives in another house.”
Reporter
“But don’t I have a responsibility as well…”
On the Phone: Arthur Saldivar
“It is not the person’s responsibility. He does not live in the same house. The most he can do is go to the (Police) station and report that “my father had a firearm in the house. It is there; he has now passed. Can you have somebody come to collect it.”
Reporter
“What if I want it to hold on to in memory…”
On the Phone: Arthur Saldivar
“That forms a part of the father’s estate. So it goes to the police station; they will give a receipt that they have it and then somebody from the family can apply for a license to get it, and once the license is approved to them they can then get it. But they have to report it.”
Up to this afternoon, de la Rosa had not been taken to the Belize Central Prison to begin his sentence because he is ill in the hospital.
