HBO's Vice news magazine show featured a story on firearms and political corruption in the Philippines. While this piece clearly offers an anti-gun perspective, it does draw attention to warlords and corrupt politicians as drivers of gun violence in the country.
The plain fact is that the Philippine 'gun problem' is inextricably linked to our nation's struggles with political corruption. No amount of crackdowns on legal civilian firearms ownership will have any effect because we are not the cause. This focus on restrictions for civilians is merely a sleight-of-hand, a tactic to draw attention away from those who are truly responsible. As our crime statistics show, the violence continues despite the gun ban. Ordinary civilians who follow the law suffer from greatly diminished security yet it's business as usual for the criminals and warlords.
We have now entered the election period when politicians make promises to tackle society's ills and turn things around for the better. Regardless of their claims, one thing is for sure: they won't solve problems by looking in the wrong direction. Continue Reading
Once again, gun control debates are raging in the United States and now, in the Philippines. Every time there is talk about restricting firearms, anti-gun advocates love wheeling out Great Britain as some sort of gold standard. The old narrative should be familiar:
The United States, with 90 guns for every 100 citizens, is the most heavily armed society in the world. As a result of Americans' stubborn love of their right to bear arms, its cities have become mired in violence, gang shootings and school massacres. Britain, on the other hand, known as having among the strictest gun laws in the world, is a far safer society. Gun crime in the UK is minuscule compared to America and its crime rate is much lower.
Reinforcing this view are the recent spate of mass shootings in the US, together with the announcement that homicide in Britain is at a 30-year low. Continue Reading
The October 2010 crime figures from the PROGUN Crime Statistics Project are now available.
As you can see, there was a slight upsurge in incidents and fatalities during the Barangay Election gun ban. The difference isn't statistically significant but it is interesting to note that there was no definite decrease in violent crime. Continue Reading
This video reminded me of a comment made a few months ago by Dante Jimenez, founding chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC). Mr Jimenez believes that only persons in authority should be allowed to carry firearms in public.
Around the time of the extended gun ban debate, Jimenez said, "Let us put a stop to this stupid idea of giving special treatment to special citizens. It should be the police that should carry firearms." Continue Reading
"The judicial system must never take the right away from citizens to bear arms and defend themselves, but they should cause citizens to be more responsible when evoking that right." - Lance Thomas
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This will show that anyone, with the motivation and determination to inflict harm, will do so, with any other means.Therefore, bans on specific weapons or tools are useless.And to think this happened in the gun-free, genteel UK?
Many thanks to our Gun Ban Crimes Project volunteers! I have now updated the statistics pages with a listing of the users who volunteered their time. Your efforts have played a valuable role in the opposition to PNP's proposed extended gun ban. It is difficult to dispute those figures which were gathered from public independent sources and openly available to peer review. The results will also provide a useful addition to our armory of evidence to fight future bans.
The 2010 Election ban may be officially over but the anti-gunners won't ever stop pushing their gun control agenda. Eternal vigilance is said to be the price of freedom and so we too must not let up in our efforts to oppose them. Continue Reading
