EDITORIAL - One bullet has no reason for being

Forget for a while that it is a scam and that there are scammers behind it. For a change let us simply consider the bullet itself. A single bullet is a banned item on any luggage, whether of foreign origin or domestic. It goes without saying that more than one bullet is even more banned, as are firearms from which a bullet, or more bullets, as the case may be, can be fired.

But let us stick to one bullet because that is what the scam is all about. Besides, more than one bullet makes for an entirely different story altogether. A person wanting to bring in a single bullet, despite knowing it is banned, could not be bringing the contraband for commercial gain. One cannot profit from trying to sneak in one bullet. The risk alone makes the endeavor foolish.

Still, for argument's sake, let us consider one strange mortal having a longing for a single bullet. Maybe he wants it on his desk in the office, or on some mantle at home. Maybe he wants it around his neck as a pendant of sorts. Maybe he just wants it in his pocket, there to mingle with his loose change. Whatever manic urges may have possessed him to long for that one solitary bullet -- for God's sake he can always buy one at home. He doesn't have to smuggle one through the airport.

But okay, let us go out on a limb on this. So there is one crazy individual who irascibly just wouldn't settle for a local bullet but had to bring one from overseas. But it is not just one crazy individual. From the latest count, more than a dozen have already been arrested ostensibly trying to bring in single bullets. If you can make us believe there are in fact 12 people out there who did try to bring in single bullets, then we must all be suckers for the tallest tales.

Still, let us push the envelope even farther. Of the at least 12 people caught with single bullets in their luggages, some of them were women, including some senior citizens. What in heaven do old ladies (pardon the terminology) have to do with single bullets. Of all the things that old ladies might want to bring, why on earth would they want to bring bullets in through their luggages.

If the ladies brought in lipstick, now there is a commodity that is not likely to raise any eyebrows, even in immeasurable quantities. Lipstick is a favorite Filipino pasalubong. Even lipstick in men's luggages will not likely arouse any curiousty anymore, if you know what we mean. But bullets? What the heck does anyone want to have anything to do with bullets, especially if they are all by their lonesome.

A bullet needs a gun to give it reason for being. A gun on the other hand sees no reason for being for a single bullet. For all intents and purposes, a single bullet serve no meaningful purpose other than as a decor or a souvenir, both of which the need can be satisfied without having to bring it in one's luggage on a plane. So if it is totally out of whack to be bringing in single bullets, somebody must have planted them in luggages. But that is already about scams and scammers.