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Another sad, senseless death and it’s Christmas
season. A nine-year-old child was shot to death yesterday—hit
right in the heart. Another random killing, another family broken,
another injustice. Perhaps it is to be expected in this land of ours
where everyone packs a gun or intends to, finances allowing.
Our fetish with guns and the
awesome destructive power that comes with them is a product of
several factors. The long years of oppression and the consequent
rebellions to drive away foreign invaders and colonizers gave us the
history of arms. Our American educators gave us the legal basis to
keep and bear arms even though our Constitution calls for a peaceful
and just society and does not contain the US Second Amendment that
protects the individual right to possess and carry weapons.
In contemporary times, our gun
culture stems from the need of the citizen for protection from
lawless elements and comes from a deep distrust of law enforcers. It
also is a tool to communicate and perpetuate power whether in
traffic accidents, electoral violence or downright assassination. It
is a most barbaric and un-Christian way to deal with our anger, our
shortcomings and our pride.
In a specific context, the New
People’s Army raids, Moro Islamic Liberation Front attacks and Abu
Sayyaf crimes increase the profile and hence, acceptability of guns
in our midst. We see guns on national television more than we do in
movies.
In visits to gun-less societies,
I begin to see the merits of disallowing public and widespread gun
ownership and restricting it to a small class of law enforcers. In
some major cities, not all law enforcers have guns. The most heavily
armed street patrolman may carry a stick, a ‘batuta’ or a pepper
spray—things which will surely be laughed at in the streets of
Manila and the alleys of Makati not to mention bank robbers and
kidnappers.
In these countries, it is most
easy to spot illegal possession of firearms. Anything not carried by
uniformed personnel on official duty is contraband. Very stiff
penalties short of death are imposed to send the message that
carrying guns bear an awesome responsibility. There is no need to
prove or disprove licenses or permits or any other document to
justify the possession.
In the Philippines, the
possession of a gun is in fact presumed to be legal and valid
precisely because of weak enforcement and the various forms of
licenses or permits. And then there are those fake policemen and
soldiers.
This gun culture promotes
violence. It is like a mini-arms race to arm to the teeth for
deterrence that results in a downward spiral for the meanest,
biggest guns. And the slaughter of innocents continues. Our
experience with guns tells us that it has not prevented crimes for
what is the chance of shooting it out with enemies cowboy-style?
But we do recognize the necessity
of banning guns. This is done during the campaign period for obvious
reason. But in this country, are we not perpetually on a campaign
mode that justifies the permanent banning of guns?
For national security, gun
permits have been suspended or revoked. Our courts have ruled that
gun ownership is a privilege and not a right. It does not need a
special law. Regulators only have to make a policy stand. It only
takes an enlightened people to say no to a gun culture. Bare-bones,
no-nonsense, black and white approach to take away guns save for the
restricted law enforcers will make better sense for each one of
us—political candidates included.
Our country is at the forefront
of non-violent protests; Filipinos are known to embrace peace. Let
us join the ranks of gun-less societies today.
mabinihall@gmail.com
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