Airsoft, pellet guns covered by poll gun ban—Comelec

Airsoft, pellet guns covered by poll gun ban—Comelec

By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: September 28, 2010

MANILA, Philippines—Air guns, pellet guns, and airsoft guns are covered by the current gun ban for the Oct. 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, a Commission on Elections official said Tuesday.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said these guns were included because they fall under the definition of a gun as "any device that propels a projectile or a slug."

"For the most part, the slug is chemically propelled. But the definition of a gun also includes weapons that fire projectiles that are pushed or propelled by non-chemical agents. In that sense, air guns and airsoft [guns] are included," Jimenez said in a press conference.

"Even if these are just pellet guns ... they are considered illegal," he added.

However, Jimenez said gun replicas were not covered by the gun ban, which began on Sept. 25 lasting until Nov. 10.

"Replicas can be used to scare people but the gun ban is not meant to prevent people from scaring others but to prevent people from killing others," Jimenez said.

"A replica, no matter how scary it is, will not kill anyone unless you use it to bash someone’s head in. That's a different story. So a replica, even if it looks real, is not covered by the gun ban," he added.

Jimenez also warned the public against highway robbers who might set up fake Comelec check points.

He said Comelec checkpoints were usually set up in well-lighted areas and were manned by uniformed policemen with nameplates.

"There might be some opportunistic black hearts who might use this as an opportunity to set up their own checkpoints and use it for highway robbery," Jimenez said.

He also said that the Comelec would allow official appointments during the election period if these positions were vital to government operations.

"We are not going to paralyze government simply because there is an election," Jimenez said.