The recent House Bill No. 6776 which was introduced and backed by the Philippine National Police sought to substantially increase the penalties for illegal possession of firearms, gun smuggling, and illegal manufacture of firearms to 30 years to life imprisonment. PROGUN was the ONLY firearms organization which OPPOSED HB 6776 both in the House and the Senate, as being unconstitutional, too harsh and unfair, and anti-people. Eventually the vehement opposition by PROGUN resulted in the defeat of the Bill.
One main contention that PROGUN raised was that increasing the penalties for crimes will not deter their commission. As we had seen in the 70’s and the 80’s wherein firearms penalties were increased to 20 years imprisonment, there was no decrease in the commission of crimes with firearms. The draconian measures of heavy penalties had absolutely no effect whatsoever on criminals who in spite of the threat of lengthy jail sentences still proceeded to commit the same crimes. Moreover, it should be stressed that even during such times when there was a total gun ban in force, it did not stop criminals from obtaining illegal guns and using them in crimes.
Thus the lesson that we learn here is that no amount of draconian legislation would deter criminals from committing crimes. It is the EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT of the laws which takes criminals off the streets. Likewise it is a STRONG AND EFFICIENT JUSTICE SYSTEM which is most effective in keeping criminals off the streets and locked up in jail. Sadly our policymakers cannot see the problem through the correct lens, hence we keep struggling every now and then with attempts to increase penalties for crimes rather than effectively enforce our existing laws. Increasing penalties is not a substitute for proper and efficient law enforcement.
Criminals operate beyond the parameters of the law; simply put, they do not fear the law, as such, no amount of punitive sanction will deter them from committing their devious acts. Case in point, we used to have the death penalty, but congress sought to repeal it simply because they knew for a fact that it was not serving its intended purpose; it did nothing to prevent crimes. Yes, there was much pressure from the catholic church and other pro-life groups to repeal capital punishment, but I believe congress would not have repealed it, inspite of the pressure from said groups, if they really beleived it was an effective deterent against crime.
The only true and time tested method of decreasing crime rates is through economic upliftment. Improve the lives and the financial condition of the people and you will have less criminals. Most of the people who commit these crimes are desperate people who have no jobs and have nothing to feed their families.
Certainty of being apprehended!, that’s the only risk criminals are weighing before making a hit. Penalties are nothing if they can get away with their crimes. Unfortunately, PNP has chosen to go the easier way just to show that they’re doing something. Playing lawmakers when a lot of their members are themselves lawbreakers.