Tlaxcala, Mexico - Federal, state and military authorities in Tlaxcala have collected 82 firearms so far in 2025 as part of the “Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace” campaign, which launched on March 3 and will continue through the end of the year. The program runs continuously in 19 municipalities and is designed to reduce crime by removing weapons and the cultural triggers that normalize violence.
Maximino Hernández Pulido, Executive Secretary of the State Public Security System (SESESP), said the campaign offers citizens a fast, confidential and investigation-free way to surrender firearms, magazines and cartridges. Participants receive a financial or practical incentive in return, and authorities do not pursue legal action for simply turning in the items. “A single isolated action will surely never be enough; there must be multiple actions from all three levels of government,” Hernández Pulido said, noting that new regulations under the updated Public Security System law are about to be implemented with a strong prevention focus.
The program runs in alignment with the National Security Strategy and targets not only actual weapons but also the symbols that feed violent mindsets. In addition to firearms, the campaign includes an exchange of war-themed toys for nonviolent alternatives. Children have played a standout role: by June 5, locals had turned in 1,040 war toys, a participation level that officials highlighted as a cultural signal—kids leading by example and influencing adult behavior. That figure contrasts with the 2,242 war toys collected during all of 2024, showing early momentum in shifting attitudes.
Hernández Pulido stressed that the visible involvement of children, handing over toys that glorify conflict, sends a clear message: changing how violence is represented and passed on begins at home. “The child setting that example for his parents—they surpassed themselves by far. It’s a campaign that stuck,” he said, framing the toy exchange not as a sideshow but as a core component of long-term prevention.
Tlaxcala’s voluntary disarmament initiative stands out because not all Mexican states maintain similar programs. According to reports from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, only a handful of states have comparable campaigns. Tlaxcala has kept the effort active, combining it with message-driven outreach and institutional backing. The state coordinates with federal and military partners, including involvement from the defense apparatus, to emphasize the collective responsibility of removing firearms from homes where they may later be misused, stolen, or accidentally accessed by children.
The campaign’s structure balances incentive with trust. Residents can anonymously surrender guns, magazines and ammunition, receiving items such as household appliances in exchange for firearms and educational or constructive goods in exchange for war toys. Officials have framed each surrendered weapon as one fewer potential catalyst for crime, accident or escalation. Public communications around the campaign underscore that dismantling the cultural acceptance of weapons—symbolized by both real arms and their toy counterparts—is part of building peace, not just reducing raw numbers.
Tlaxcala plans to mark the campaign’s close with a formal event in December. At that gathering, authorities will release the final tally of weapons and war toys collected over the full campaign period. The closing presentation is intended both as accountability and as a narrative moment: to show the cumulative impact of sustained, layered prevention efforts and to reinforce citizen participation as a civic contribution to local peace.
Officials say the campaign will not operate in isolation. Hernández Pulido indicated that the disarmament effort will dovetail with broader prevention strategies emerging from the new public security regulations. Those measures are expected to target the underlying conditions that feed crime, such as economic predation, extortion and fraud, creating a more integrated approach that pairs removing triggers for violence with addressing its root drivers.
For now, the message to Tlaxcala residents remains simple and direct: handing over a firearm or war toy is a concrete step toward safer streets and calmer homes. Authorities are pushing the narrative that disarmament is both practical and cultural—each item surrendered rewrites a small part of the local story away from normalization of violence and toward shared responsibility for peace.
The “Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace Tlaxcala” campaign is banking on visibility, momentum from early participation, and the December accounting to keep pressure and civic buy-in high for the remainder of 2025.
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