Collateral damage

Last January 4, Ronald Bae went on a rampage in Kawit, Cavite. Before he was gunned down by the police, his vintage .45-caliber 1911 pistol had claimed the lives of 8 innocent bystanders and wounded 9 others, including 4 children and a pregnant woman.

This latest display of violence has caused renewed and more fervent calls for stricter gun control laws and perhaps even a gun ban altogether. And it’s not only the psychopaths and murderers that gun control laws would be protecting us against but those ignorant or careless about their proper use. For example, Seven-year-old Stephanie Nicole Ella passed away two days after a stray bullet landed in her head on New Year’s Eve. Another person was killed and 41 wounded by the indiscriminate firing of guns during the New Year celebrations. But this senseless tradition is not unexpected since PNP records indicate there are as many as 1.6 million licensed firearms in the Philippines — only a third of which belong to the military and police — and nearly 600,000 unregistered firearms. However, according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, the figure could be nearly double, or as many as 5 million guns.

However, despite the plethora of gun related deaths over recent years, there are those still opposed to greater gun control laws both here and abroad. Let us present some current statistics.

According to GunPolicy.org, firearms are used to kill as many as 1,000 people each day. The Philippines has reported a total of 4,947 gun related homicides in 2011, placing us far above the UK (724), Germany (690), Japan (582), France (428), Netherlands (164), and Hong Kong (35). Incidentally, perhaps the safest place to live is Bhutan which reported only 7 gun related deaths in 2011. In contrast, the US and China reported 14,159 and 14,811 total deaths, respectively. Still, neither of these countries can compare with Brazil which has reported a total of 43,909 deaths. These figures paint a picture of the shockingly high numbers of gun related deaths which occur each year.

Gun advocates argue that the real criminals and psychopaths will always manage to get their hands on guns no matter what measures are taken. Thus, stricter gun control measures or a total gun ban will have the effect of taking guns out of the hands of the citizens who need to protect themselves.

On the other hand, those in favor of stricter gun control argue that the issue is not so much about making it impossible for criminals to get guns but to make it harder for an unbalanced person to have access to a weapon. Also, while it is true that some might feel safer carrying a gun, the truth is that it may actually lead to even more accidental deaths. Unless you have undergone extensive training and are extremely competent with a firearm, the chances are you may end up adding to the violence and death in your attempt to protect yourself. An already terrible situation could become worse if civilians start blind-firing at their assailant(s) out of panic or terror.

My four centavos is for greater gun control. Massacres like Sandy Hook have become too prevalent. People like Ronald Bae and Adam Lanza have been enabled by lax or ineffective gun laws and the innocents suffer for it. Stricter regulations and licensing requirements for gun owners make sense but at the same time, just like our other laws, the real issue lies in their proper implementation.

Unfortunately, the latest “gun” law — R.A. 8294 — amended P.D. 1866 and, among others, lowered the penalty for possessing and carrying an unlicensed firearm. As it currently stands, the penalty now depends on whether the weapon was low-powered or high-powered. At a time when over four thousand of our people are killed each year, it would seem that the type of firearm does not really matter as even vintage weapons cause senseless grief. On the contrary, Congress should be setting the bar higher to reduce the collateral damage inflicted by gun-related violence.

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Initial salvo: After successfully hosting four well-attended events in 2012, the reinvigorated Harvard Club of the Philippines is starting off 2013 with an 8 p.m. after dinner mixer on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013 at the Martinis bar of the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The activity has a dual purpose: It marks the Philippine chapter’s participation in the University’s global networking night, an initiative where alumni all over the world are encouraged to hold simultaneous gatherings. It also serves as a welcome reception for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based volunteers of the Harvard Pinoy Forum (www.harvard.edu/filipino) students who are in the country to undertake various social volunteer programs. For more information about this event, you may email executive director Harvey Dychiao at [email protected].

Message of hope: Anita Moorjani is the author of the New York Times best seller “Dying to be Me”. It is an account of her near death experience and remarkable almost instant cure from stage four cancer (lymphoma). Her subsequent healing has remained one of the most amazing recoveries ever recorded in medical history. Anita’s new found perspective on life and death, and her moving message of hope continues to bring comfort to cancer victims, their families as well as numerous followers. She inspires her audience to transform their lives by living more authentically, discovering their greatest passions and purpose, transcending their deepest fears and living always from a place of pure joy.

Ms. Moorjani will be in Manila on January 26 and 27, 2013 and holding seminars at the RCBC Plaza auditorium and Makati Shangri-La hotel where she will be sharing her life experiences and important messages. Among the topics she will be discussing are: dealing with stress, practicing the right perspective, achieving a feeling of oneness, understanding the physical aspect of life and finding your ultimate purpose.

For more information about the seminar, you may visit: www.arkeology.org. or call (02)8970383/(0918)8970383.

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“Bullets cannot be recalled. They cannot be uninvented. But they can be taken out of the gun.” – Martin Amis

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E-mail: [email protected]