The Philippine National Police (PNP) made a major announcement on Monday, March 4: civilians are now allowed to own licensed semi-automatic rifles.
“Sa ngayon po, ‘yong mga private citizens po na nagmamay-ari po ng riple, particulary po ‘yong 7.62 pababa po, at ‘yong kanilang mga baril po ay klasipikasyon po ng semi-automatic, ay pupuwede na po itong palisensiyahan ng sibilyan po,” PNP spokesperson and Public Information Office chief Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said in a press conference on Monday.
(Now, private citizens who own rifles, particularly 7.62 and lower, along with guns classified as semi-automatic, can be entitled to civilian licenses.)
A slight amendment in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act made the new rules possible, Fajardo said. A study by a technical working group suggested the said amendment. The PNP spokesperson added that the suggested changes were already sent to the University of the Philippines Law Center for publication.
What do the rules say?
Under RA No. 10591’s IRR, an ordinary citizen can own and possess firearms if he/she meets qualifications such as being Filipino citizen, at least 21 years old at the time of application, has an occupation, business, or had filed a tax return as proof of income. Aside from these qualifications, applicants should also complete or satisfy the following requirements:
- Clearance from a court showing “that he/she has not been convicted by final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude or that he/she has not been convicted or is currently an accused in any pending criminal case before any court of law for a crime that is punishable with a penalty of more than two (2) years”
- Neuropsychiatric clearance from the PNP Health Service or its accredited psychiatrist or psychologist
- Drug test clearance
- Certificate proving that the applicant passed the required gun safety and responsible gun ownership seminar
- The following documents: PNP police clearance, birth certificate, proof of latest billing, two valid identification cards, income tax return, certificate of employment, or business permit
Under the old IRR, “only small arms…may be registered by licensed citizens or licensed juridical entities for ownership, possession, and concealed carry.” The new rule now explicitly allows individuals to possess and own small arms and class-A light weapons.
Small arms refer to firearms intended for individual use, which include handguns (pistols and revolvers), rifles, and shotguns.
Semi-automatic rifles fall under a much higher classification – class-A light weapons category. Under the PNP’s definition, these weapons include “self-loading pistols, rifles, carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns not exceeding caliber 7.62MM which have fully automatic mode.”
The above mentioned qualifications and clearance were only meant for a license to own.
There were other licenses needed based on how the gun will be handled. The Permit to Carry Firearm Outside of Residence is needed if a person intends to bring his/her gun outside the home, while the Permit to Transport Firearm is required if firearms are transferred to and from a specific location.
Reservations
Fajardo said there were safeguards put in place to ensure that the new policy will not be abused. Among the safeguards she mentioned were the qualifications and requirements set by the law before a person can secure a license to own and possess a firearm.
But for some, the new rules on gun possession entail possible dangers.
A gun enthusiast whom Rappler talked to said that semi-automatic rifles are undeniably powerful and dangerous: “For example, ang MP5, 1,000 rounds per minute ‘yon. Ang M4, 800 rounds per minute. Ang daming collateral damage no’n.” (For example, an MP5 gun can fire 1,000 rounds per minute. An M4 can fire 800 rounds per minute. There would be a lot of collateral damage, if ever.)
For gun-control policy advocate and former lawmaker Carlos Isagani Zarate, the new policy is headed in the “wrong direction” because, he said, it will only further promote a gun culture in the country, “especially among the elite who have the wherewithal to purchase these expensive ‘toys.'”
“It will also further embolden the warlords and the trapos who relied on the 4Gs (guns, goons, gold, and gimmick) during elections to expand and level up the inventory of their armory. This policy should be seriously reviewed, even scrapped,” Zarate told Rappler.
A Rappler investigation revealed that the Duterte family has at least 477 guns collectively – 101 of which are rifles. Former president Rodrigo Duterte has the highest number of rifles at 73 (READ: Duterte got licenses for over 300 guns 2 weeks before his term ended).
Cornell University defines a semi-automatic rifle as a firearm that “utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.”
In using semi-automatic rifles, the shooter needs to pull the trigger to fire a bullet, but the succeeding bullet will be automatically loaded, according to a report by US-based Northeastern Global News. An automatic gun, meanwhile, continues to fire without the shooter having to pull the trigger again.
Semi-automatic rifles, when compared to handguns, can cause even greater damage. A report by ABC7 New York said gunshot wounds caused by semi-automatic rifles can be much worse.
“The degree of tissue destruction will be considerably greater, so rather than a bullet simply passing through an organ, it may inflict a more destructive wound to the organ itself,” Dr. Michael Shapiro, chief of trauma and critical care surgery at Northwestern Medicine in Illinois, told ABC7 in the report.
In some of the mass shootings in the US, the perpetrators used semi-automatic rifles, like in the New York mass shooting in 2022, where at least 10 people were killed. These shootings opened debates in the Western country on whether 18-year-olds should be allowed to purchase semi-automatic rifles. – Rappler.com