Guatemala, more so than most Central American countries, has a plethora of weapons. Call it a legacy from thirty years of civil war or the reaction to a more recent plague of robberies by disaffected youths. To tell the truth, this isn't a good time to be a bus driver in Guatemala City and not pay the ransom for driving through some gang's turf.
There's a theory that everyone who carries a firearm has to be licensed: you need a government ID card, an application and your handgun is etched with a serial number. The ballistics test is next, followed by an interview with a psychiatrist. ROFL, as they say.
Antigua is no different: the banks are well guarded, as are the jewelry shops. There's more than a few instances where the need for an armed guard at the entrance doesn't quite make sense. Fast food outlets? Are you going to run with the bun or a bucket of fried chicken?
An English school for children? To keep them in or keep them focused on the lesson of the day? There's an Argentinian restaurant with a proudly displayed 12 gauge shotgun at the door. I've been trying to understand the need for armed guards at the telephone stores: a snatch and grab of the latest model, which is last year's anyway?
Most of the guards are modestly armed, a .38 here and a 9mm there. The ubiquitous pistol-grip style 12 gauge shot gun with a bandolier of five or six shells is a favorite.
At the MovieStar telephone store, Ramon of the diminutive stature carries the standard Beretta 9mm: recently he's added to his armament new and larger clips of spare ammo: know that the model holds fourteen rounds. He's added two extra clips, containing fourteen and two have the latest 'must-have' extensions for more cannon shells, so he's packing sixty six rounds of 9mm bullets and his piece is cocked (I have no idea who gave him this idea). My best advice? Do not attempt to do anything funny at the MovieStar office.
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