EDITORIAL — Loose firearms

It is often said that the country has too many laws and too little enforcement. This is particularly evident in the enforcement of gun laws. Election period or not, the country is awash with guns. In certain parts of Mindanao, where the standing joke is that men consider their guns more precious than their wives, even adolescents openly brandish rifles.

Only responsible gun holders bother to obtain and regularly renew gun licenses and permits to carry their weapons outside their homes. The rest of the gun owners think they live in another country where citizens have the right to bear arms, and they act as if obtaining a gun permit is a violation of civil rights.

The failure to properly enforce gun laws is one of the biggest causes of criminality. Often, members of organized crime rings such as carjackers and bank robbers have more firepower than responding cops. The other day two men on a motorcycle opened fire at police officers who tried to accost them in Quezon City. The cops managed to fire back, killing the two.

Yesterday a man walked up to the fourth floor of the Manila City Hall and opened fire on a former mayor who was waiting for his court trial for murder. The gunman managed to escape in the crowded building as former Misamis Occidental town mayor Rey Yap lay dying. One of Yap’s bodyguards and a bystander were seriously wounded. In a twist, jail guards escorting inmates near the scene had turned over their guns to a clerk of court and could not chase the fleeing suspects for fear that the inmates would escape.

Clearly, guns are in the wrong hands in this country. Yesterday City Hall officials vowed to tighten security in the building. But more than making sure guns are prohibited in government buildings, authorities should improve the enforcement of gun laws.