‘Qualified’ kin can claim dead owners’ guns

MANILA, Philippines - Relatives of gun owners who have died can claim the guns, provided they are qualified to possess firearms, an official said yesterday.

“For transfer of firearms due to death of the firearm owner, the standard operating procedure... states that the death of the licensee, if unknown to FEO, shall immediately be reported by any relative who is aware that the deceased has a license firearm,” Firearms and Explosives Office director Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta said.

The FEO is a unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP), which regulates and supervises licenses of firearms.

Petrasanta said the FEO, after verifying the death of a gun owner, shall revoke the licenses under the owner’s name.

“If any heirs of the licensee would claim the firearm for and in his behalf, the FEO shall determine the claimant’s fitness to be a licensee of the firearm…The claim shall only be acted upon by the PNP after the appropriate settlement of the estate of the licensee has been made,” he added.

The FEO chief said a claimant must submit documents to support the request for the transfer of ownership. The claimant must also obtain clearances from the mayor’s office, local police, National Bureau of Investigation and the PNP Directorate for Intelligence.