Election gun ban: 225 violators nabbed, 228 guns seized in 1st week
The election gun ban has been in place since January 12, 2-25, and authorities have arrested 225 violators and confiscated 228 firearms during the first week of its enforcement. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — The election gun ban has been in place since January 12, and authorities were able to arrest 225 violators and confiscate 228 firearms during the first week of its enforcement.
Data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Commission on Elections (Comelec) National Election Monitoring Action Center (NEMAC) showed that from January 12-18, authorities nabbed:
- 209 civilians
- 10 security guards
- 2 Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel
- 2 personnel from other law enforcement agencies
- 2 foreign nationals
It also enumerated that in the same period, the firearms that authorities seized included:
- 169 small arms
- 6 explosives and other ordinances
- 1 light weapon
- 52 other types of guns
Authorities conducted a total of 214 operations from January 12-18 to enforce the gun ban. These arrest and seizures of firearms were from 118 police responses and patrolling activities, 50 buy-bust operations, and 40 checkpointsm while six cases were incidental to lawful arrests.
The NEMAC also said 48,510 election checkpoints were set up nationwide.
The NEMAC data did not provide a breakdown per location, but it did indicate that 24,462 were established at strategic locations; 13,487 were mobile checkpoints; 5,714 were joint checkpoints with the Armed Forces of the Philippines; and 4,847 were border control checkpoints.
READ: Gun ban starts January 12 as election period begins – PNP
The election gun ban will end on June 11.
Comelec Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco previously clarified that airsoft, airguns, imitation firearms, and replicas are also included in the ban.
