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PNP to hold summit on extended gun ban By Cecille Suerte Felipe (The Philippine Star) Updated May 24, 2010 12:00 AM |
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) is set to hold the 2nd National Gun Control Summit before the end of the month to discuss whether or not to extend the nationwide gun ban, which will expire on June 9.
PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said the summit was also meant to find out the sentiment and concerns of the different sectors of society on gun control.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) imposed the nationwide gun ban from Jan. 10 to June 9 in connection with the May 10 national and local elections. The Comelec and the PNP assessed that nationwide gun ban was one of the major factors for the most peaceful and orderly elections in the Philippine history.
“It will be one interesting topic. We will invite all of you, we may even use the summit in looking for effective measures in protecting yourself (other than carrying firearms),” Verzosa said.
Verzosa said representatives from gun owners’ groups, Gunless Society, firearms dealers, the National Bureau of Investigation, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and media organizations will be invited to the summit.
Earlier, Verzosa revealed plans of permanently suspending the issuance of permits to carry firearms outside of residence (PTCFOR) even after the election period because of the apparent success of the total gun ban in curbing crimes. “But we have to consult all the stakeholders,” he said.
The PNP held the first gun summit in May 2009, after which the PNP leadership recommended to President Arroyo to grant amnesty to holders of loose firearms.
The President ordered the PNP to implement the gun amnesty program from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, 2009 as the PNP estimated that there were about 1.1 million loose firearms nationwide. The PNP said 97 percent of loose firearms are used in committing crimes.
25 May 2010
Philippine National Police
Civil Service Group
CSG Building
Camp Crame, QC
Attention : P/Chief Superintendent Franklin Alfabeto
Chief, Civil Security Group
Re : Request to be allowed to participate in PNP Firearms
Summit 2010
Dear Gen. Alfabeto:
This is to respectfully request that our group PEACEFUL RESPONSIBLE OWNERS OF GUNS (PROGUN) and UNITED AIRSOFT ALLIANCE (UAA) be invited and allowed to participate in the upcoming Firearms Summit 2010. Undersigned was a participant at the Summit last year as facilitator and group head of Cluster “D” on other concerns.
Our participants on behalf of PROGUN and UAA are:
1. ATTY. Fallujah
2. ATTY JJFAT
3. Boiledfrog
4. GOOGIE
We hope for your favorable approval of our request.
Very truly yours,
Atty. FALLUJAH
Any news if PROGUN has been invited yet?
No reply and no invitation. It’s rather funny that we have to ask to be invited. Usually, you are invited without having to ask. If the PNP is serious in gathering ALL SECTORS of the shooting community for this event, then it should invite ALL SECTORS to attend. Otherwise, if only selected orgs and individuals attend, the public will view it as mere propaganda for the anti-gun sentiment, and a farce.
We all know that the summit is just for show. The real decisions will be made in the back rooms away from the prying eyes of the public. I don’t think it really matters whether or not all sectors are represented because they will do what they want anyway.
Our main challenge is to help the public understand this. Gun control has always been about PR, not crime reduction or public safety.
We just got word this morning that our invitation to participate in the Gun Summit has been approved. So we will be there on 4 June 2010 at Camp Crame.
We also got feelers from the PNP that they would want to talk to us. If this is a good sign that they are listening to us, why not? We will accept their invitation to talk.