A shooting every two days: the Government will bring to Parliament the reform to toughen penalties for possession of weapons

BarcelonaDuring the first six months of 2026, incidents in which someone fired a bullet in Catalonia have increased by 45%. That is to say, a shooting has been recorded every two days, with a toll of six dead and seventeen injured. If cases where someone has brandished a firearm, even if they did not get to use it, are added to this, there is one incident a day. And, in these cases, real weapons are becoming increasingly common: they already represent 42% of the total, when until recently the majority were simulated. Behind this increase are various causes, such as the fact that weapons are becoming cheaper, are more available, and there are more criminal groups that need them to defend their businesses, which are closely linked to drugs.

But behind this phenomenon there is also, as admitted by the Mossos d'Esquadra, a certain sense of impunity for those who carry a weapon, with penalties that are not dissuasive enough and have not been changed for three decades. As ARA advanced two weeks ago, the Government is working with the Moncloa on a reform of the Penal Code to toughen sentences associated with the possession of weapons, both regarding firearms and some prohibited bladed weapons. According to sources from the Catalan executive, the talks with the Spanish government have gone well and this Wednesday the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, announced the reform proposal within the framework of the general policy debate.

"I ask you to support the bill that my group will present in the coming days, a parliamentary initiative that we will present here to strengthen the criminal response to the possession of weapons in order to adapt the Spanish Penal Code to the current reality," Illa asked during his reply to Junts. The proposal, therefore, will reach Parliament from the PSC-Units group. If it is approved, it will be sent to Congress, where a group of Catalan deputies will defend the suitability of the reform in the Spanish chamber. According to executive sources, the Government hopes to approve the regulation in Parliament this autumn and for it to be approved in Congress before the end of the legislature if there is a parliamentary majority.

On September 16, this newspaper explained that the Government was negotiating with the Moncloa to double the penalties for some crimes, although ultimately the final proposal of the Catalan executive is slightly lower than what was being studied a few weeks ago. This has been decided, according to sources familiar with the negotiation, for technical coherence with other crimes in the Penal Code.

Right now, the crime of possession of prohibited weapons (article 563 of the Penal Code) ranges from one to three years in prison, and the Government proposes to increase it from two to four. The possession of regulated short and long firearms without a license (article 564), currently penalized with a maximum of two years in prison for short firearms and one year for long ones, will also increase to three years in the first case and 18 months in the second. Furthermore, the penalties for some aggravating factors will also be increased, such as the fact that the weapons have entered illegally or have been modified.

Aggravating factor and not a new crime

In fact, the Government planned to create a new crime of exhibiting weapons in public spaces, but it finally proposes creating an aggravating factor under this assumption —also if these weapons are shown in front of vulnerable people—, sentencing at the upper end of the penalty range if this situation occurs. The executive's objective is for the penalties associated with weapons to lead to the perpetrator of the crime entering prison. Currently, the sentences are so low that often the custodial sentence is suspended. At the same time, it aims to align the Spanish Penal Code with its European environment: in countries such as Italy, France, Germany, and Portugal, the penalties for carrying weapons reach up to five years in prison.

In Parliament, President Illa also cited a proposal for a European Commission directive, currently in process, which aims to harmonize criminal offenses and sanctions related to firearms, with the goal that European Union countries have a similar legal framework. According to government sources, this European initiative also legitimizes the increase in penalties they are proposing.