Honduras' police chief told media on Tuesday that a civil war was unlikely to occur in the country, which has seen mounting tensions after the June 28 coup.
Even though many citizens owned guns, there were no guerrila groups in the Central American nation, Salvador Escoto, director of the national police, told reporters.
"We must be clear that there are no guerrilla groups that could kick off warlike activity here," said Escoto after a meeting with Honduras' de facto president, Roberto Micheletti. "There is always a risk, but worries about a civil war are not that great."
In the month since Manuel Zelaya was deposed as the nation's president in a military coup, Honduras has seen constant pro-Zelaya demonstrations and clashes with the army, which supports Micheletti.
Zelaya crossed into Honduran territory for a few hours on Friday. The United States has criticized this move as "reckless."
Escoto told media that most of the nation's illegal weapons are owned by gangsters from poor neighborhoods who try to smuggle drugs to the United States via Honduras.
According to Escoto, it was very easy to obtain an AK-47 assault rifle in such neighborhoods. "You can go and get one for around 500 dollars," Escoto said.
A few days earlier, police spokesman Daniel Molina told Xinhua that there were a lot of guns on Honduras' streets. However, he added that this had long been a problem.
Zelaya's supporters have shown few signs so far of taking up arms. Last week, the body of another Zelaya supporter was found near Nicaragua's border with Honduras. He had been stabbed to death.