If the Aquino administration is so adamantly against enforcing a total gun ban, then the next best thing is for the government to declare an all-out drive against the possession of all sorts of illegal and unlicensed firearms.

Estimates vary, but it is safe to presume that the number of illegal guns is in the hundreds of thousands. It is not just the homemade paltiks and sumpaks that are out there. There are also all kinds of firearms smuggled into the country that were purchased abroad. These range from the simplest hand guns to semi-automatic to full-blown automatic assault rifles.

These are not the Danao-made firearms manufactured in backyard operations, but are made by major arms manufacturers. The only problem is that they were not imported legitimately and may have been stolen from police or military armories, or used in crimes and disposed of in the black market.

Rebels and bandits in the south are also known to possess all sorts of hardware, from World War II era bazookas to more modern vintage grenade launchers. There is even pictorial evidence to suggest that they also possess personal portable surface-to-air Stinger missiles.

The biggest and deadliest of these military armaments possessed by the Abu Sayyaf or the New People’s Army is a matter of national security, and is best left to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or the Philippine National Police (PNP to neutralize. For the general public, however, it is the illegal and unlicensed guns that pose a serious threat to neighborhood peace and order.

It is no secret that the election season is when the illicit guns are distributed by unscrupulous politicians to their followers under the guise of security escorts. And as of this week, the country has entered the official election season.

A nationwide gun ban is supposed to be in effect between now and election day. In a perfect world, this should mean that gun-related violence and deaths will be minimized. But we know better.

It is sad to admit that the Philippines has a long history of election violence. There have always been and always will be candidates for whom losing is not an option. They would do anything to win, and this includes terrorizing their opponents and their supporters to submission.

According to Chairman Mao
They can be considered firm believers in the classic Maoist thought: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

It does not matter if the gun is licensed or not. What matters to them is that they are better armed than their opponents.

All over the country, there are “mini arms races” where political warlords facing other warlords will procure as many arms as possible, and distribute these to their followers, particularly in areas where their opponents are known to be heavily armed, as well.

When the gun-wielding followers expect violence, then this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Indeed, there will be violence, almost always involving the use of guns. And it is not limited to the traditional political hot spots, either.

In the National Capital Region, there are areas that can be considered as tinder boxes. One small spark is all it will take for a confrontation between opposing parties to explode into shootings.

It is all up to the Commission on Elections to take whatever steps are necessary to avert such tragedies. Because the Comelec has total control over the AFP and the PNP during election season, it can authorize more vigorous searches for loose firearms.

The Comelec can coordinate with the Department of Interior and Local Government to identify potential hot spots, then concentrate the search for the illicit firearms in those areas. This is just for starters.

The citizenry can also do their share. Anyone seen in possession of a firearm who is neither policeman or soldier should be suspect. These individuals may indeed be exempt from the gun ban, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. Residents should report the presence in their neighborhoods of anyone carrying a gun, if not to their barangay captains then to the nearest police station.

We need not be reminded that mere possession of an unlicensed firearm is always a criminal offense. Being connected to any candidate is never an excuse to flaunt one.

Whoever is caught carrying an unlicensed firearm should be made to face the maximum penalty provided by law.