Karlon Rama, who writes for Sun Star was recently in Vietnam and Cambodia. From there he gives us a perspective of other Southeast Asian countries that have enforced a gun ban. Can we expect the Philippines to be much different?

“Unarmed. Cambodia, which I had just left days ago, and Vietnam, where I am currently, are two Southeast Asian countries where private firearm ownership is restricted.

Only policemen and soldiers have guns. It is a badge of power.

They carry it proudly as they enter bars and help themselves to a bottle of Anchor, Heineken or Halida.

The ordinary resident can do nothing.

Not surprisingly, stories of human rights abuses here are commonplace. This is the utopia people like Jesus Versoza want to bring about.

And yet, on a more mundane level, there is also the existence of crime–the absence of private firearm ownership notwithstanding.

Here, reports of passenger motorcycle drivers robbing clients are common too. They drive them somewhere where an accomplice would lie in wait and rob the passenger of his valuables at gunpoint.

I asked someone where the criminals got their guns. The local I asked gave me a funny look. Obviously, if only the police and soldiers could have guns, where would the gun used in the crime come from?”

You can read the full article on Sun.Star Cebu: He is so not getting it