Italy must not be 'Far West' -Mattarella

(ANSA) - Rome, July 26 - President Sergio Mattarella said Thursday that Italy must not be allowed to become like the Wild West after a girl of Roma ethnicity was wounded by a air-gun shot fired by a man from a Rome balcony. "I was struck by a news story," Mattarella told reporters at the so-called 'fan ceremony' before parliament's summer recess.
    "Italy cannot resemble a Far West where someone buys a rifle and shoots a one-year-old girl, ruining her health and her future. This is barbarism and it must elicit indignation".
    The opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD) welcomed the head of State's comments and linked them to Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's proposal to bolster legitimate self defence rules for the victims of crime and make access to firearms easier.
    "President Mattarella is right," said PD leader Maurizio Martina. "Italy cannot become the Far West. No to easy weapons".