Girl’s death triggers gun debate

MANILA, Philippines - The death of a girl hit by celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve sparked calls yesterday for stricter gun controls in the country, where unlicensed weapons are widely blamed for rampant violence.

Stephanie Nicole Ella, aged seven, died Wednesday from a gunshot wound to the head, triggering outrage and condemnation of poor law enforcement that allows hundreds of thousands of unregistered firearms to be on the streets.

“This incident should not be allowed to become just another statistic,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a statement.

“We have enough laws to penalize but the problem has always been in the enforcement of laws,” he stressed, as he challenged the police to catch the person responsible for Nicole’s death.

Nicole and her father were watching a fireworks display outside their home in Caloocan on New Year’s Eve when a bullet, apparently fired from celebratory gunfire, struck her.

Nicole was the second young victim to die from stray bullets in New Year’s Eve celebrations, when gun owners traditionally fire bullets into the air or explode powerful firecrackers to make noise.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. backed yesterday proposals to increase penalties for indiscriminate firing of guns.

The schoolmates of Nicole at the Tala Elementary School in Caloocan City held a protest march yesterday to show their sympathy and indignation at her death.

Belmonte said he was “extremely sorry” about the deaths of Nicole and Ranjilo Nemer, 4.

“I’m sure that these guns are not fired in secret, and I do hope witnesses to such reckless actions would come forward and report these to the police,” he said.

Belmonte said he was “enraged that there are people who fire their guns” during the New Year.

The House of Representatives will study proposals to impose stiffer penalties on the firing of guns “whether or not anyone is hit,” he added.

Earlier, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo called for tighter gun control, including publication of the names of gun owners and thorough background checks on gun stores.

Castelo urged the administration to take a proactive stance on the issue of taking control on the proliferation of both legally issued and illegal guns, saying “this is the key to avert extremely violent assaults.”

“Policies should not crawl; they should not be reactive. They should not be one or two steps behind,” the lawmaker said, citing the massacre of children at the Sandy Hook elementary school in the US late last year.

Castelo proposed stricter issuance of license to bear firearms, limiting it to fundamental issues like threats to life, social standing, nature of profession, among others; and requiring prospective owners to undergo psychological and psychiatric evaluation tests before any issuance of license to bear firearms.

Some 22 people nationwide were injured by stray bullets early this week, according to the Department of Health.

The Revised Penal Code provides fines and an imprisonment of one day to 30 days for indiscriminate firing.

Nicole’s ordeal was prominently covered in national media, as her grief-stricken parents tensely waited by her hospital bed while doctors lost the battle to save her.

An outpouring of sympathy followed, led by the office of President Aquino – himself a keen sports shooter – which issued a statement condemning her senseless death.

Prominent anti-crime crusader Dante Jimenez said the government should impose “a total gun ban during the holidays” and not only during elections, when rival politicians are known to engage in blood feuds.

“There should be no guns on the streets during these times. That is the only way,” he said.

However, he said the bigger problem was the failure of authorities to seize all illegal firearms in the face of mounting violence.

There were 1.2 million registered firearms in the Philippines as of last year, according to data from the police firearms and explosives office.

It said there were another roughly 600,000 unlicensed firearms in circulation across the Philippines.

While carrying an unlicensed firearm is punishable by up to six years in prison, it remains relatively easy to acquire guns in the black market, Jimenez said. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Paolo Romero