More than 150,000 firearms for 270,000 inhabitants in New Caledonia ? Surrealist figures

Preyed à violent riots which have already caused several deaths, New Caledonia has the reputation of having many weapons in circulation on its territory. What about ?

Since Monday and the constitutional reform aimed at to expand the electoral body in New Caledonia, the territory is prey to riots of rare violence. The High Commissioner of the Republic of New Caledonia reported in recent days "tense shooting with large caliber weapons, large hunting rifles, on the gendarmes". On Wednesday, the results were already high. of four deaths and Emmanuel Macron decreed state of emergency. The deputy Renaissance of New Caledonia, Nicolas Metzdorf, sounded the alarm at the microphone of BFMTV. "We could slide into civil war, the Caldonians are protecting themselves", he feared. And the elected official asserts that, on the archipelago, "there are 250 000  inhabitants for every 100 000  nbsp;weapons".

Exact figures? Firstly, it appears that as of January 1, 2023, the population of New Caledonia was closer to 270,000 inhabitants. than 250,000. 268 510 is the number precisely advanced  by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). As for the number of weapons in circulation, the figures given are not precise and remain mainly estimates. Rapporteur of the permanent information mission on the institutional future of New Caledonia in 2015, Jean-Jacques Urvoas spoke again on Tuesday evening in Figaro New Caledonia as "a territory of 270 000  inhabitants, and of which we know today that, legally or hiddenly, there are between 60,000 and 100,000 weapons. ;quot;. And mention in passing the recent looting of armories which took place on the night of Monday to Friday. Tuesday à Noumeéa. 

While between November 25 and December 2, 2022, an exceptional "abandonment' simplified weapons " had been organized by the state in New Caledonia, NC The first reported, that'  At the time, one in four Caldonians was armed. and that &agrav; Almost 64,000 declared weapons were in circulation. 64,000,000 On the other hand, 128,000 weapons were in circulation illegally, according to figures from the New Caledonia High Commission. eacute;donie.