Gun group questions new PNP license

MANILA, Philippines - A group promoting responsible gun ownership is questioning a move by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to require existing gun owners to apply for a license to own and possess firearms (LTOPF), saying a retroactive execution of Republic Act 10591 is unconstitutional.

Ernesto Tabujara III, president of Peaceful Responsible Owners of Guns (PRO-Guns), said yesterday they will ask the Supreme Court (SC) to solve the issue on RA 10591, or the comprehensive law on firearms and ammunitions.

The law requires all gun holders to secure an LTOPF, which according to Tabujara violates the Constitution.

“RA 10591 is a criminal law and you cannot enforce a law ex-post facto or after the fact. Existing gun license owners… should not be required to secure LTOPF,” Tabujara said.

He said the law should be applicable only to individuals applying for gun ownership after the law was passed.

The PNP last Wednesday gave gun owners, whose firearm licenses are still valid this year, until December 2015 to process and secure their LTOPF, a document similar to a driver’s license.

PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima extended the validity of gun licenses for another year based on recommendations of the Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO), whose information technology system is undergoing an upgrade.

FEO director Chief Superintendent Moro Virgilio Lazo said FEO is not ready to implement RA 10591, which requires gun holders to secure an LTOPF before he or she can own or possess firearms.

He said individuals who have been gun owners for several years should not be exempted from securing LTOPF, which requires clearances from the Police Directorate for Intelligence and the regional and metropolitan trial courts.

Applicants are also required to submit a National Statistics Office-issued birth certificate and ballistics, fingerprint and biometrics data as well as undergo neuropsychiatric and drug tests.

“These are the concerns we will refer to the Supreme Court by next week,” said Tabujara, who doubted PNP’s pronouncement that ballistics and fingerprinting procedures could be done in 63 police offices nationwide. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Edu Punay