Wednesday, November 28, 2007 Rama: Firearm laws for the armed citizen By Karlon N. Rama Stage Five
(Second of three parts)
THE firearms-related provisions of the Revised Administrative Code of 1917 weren’t all bad.
Based on the law, bona fide and active members of gun clubs accredited by the Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army are not required to make the deposit or give the bond prescribed by the section.
It is safe to speculate though that the members of these early gun clubs were no more than Americans and Philippine-born Hispanic elites.
The sweet deal was that licenses issued under the Revised Administrative Code of 1917 were perpetual. They continued until the death or legal disability of the licensee.
Although the Administrative Code of 1917 is titled as such, it remained in effect until the Commonwealth Period and up to the eve of the Martial Law years.
In between the two periods there were other measures involving firearms.
GUN LAWS AFTER G.I. JOE. Post World War 2 was the era of the Hukbalahap, where firearms given like candies by the Americans for whoever was willing to fight the Japanese a few years before, proliferated.
Government firearm statutes at that time include Republic Act (RA) 4, dated July 19, 1946, which increased the penalty imposed in Sec. 2692 (penalties for violations of Sec. 878 of the Administrative Code of 1917) from one year imprisonment and a fine of P1,000 to one to five years of imprisonment and a fine of up to P5,000.
“Except when the firearm illegally possessed is a carbine, grease gun, sub-machine gun or other types of heavy weapons, in which case the penalty is not less than five nor more than 10 years of imprisonment,” the statute read.
When the threat of higher penalties (The sum of P1,000 to P5,000 was “real money” in the ‘50s.) didn’t work, the government passed RA 482.
This new law, signed in June 10, 1950, states that any person illegally possessing firearms or ammunition may escape prosecution if he or she surrenders his or her armaments within one year from the enactment of the law. To up the ante, the government offered money in exchange for the guns
Noting that some may not want to part with their guns at all, the government enacted Republic Act 486 a day after.
This was the very first firearms amnesty program. People who qualified have the option of either surrendering their guns or getting a permanent license for it under Sec. 887 of the Administrative Code.
MARCOS. When Martial Law was declared in Sept. 21, 1972 by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 1081, General Orders pertaining to firearms were issued in rapid succession.
General Order No. 6, issued in Sept.22, 1972, ordered the “arrest of any person who shall keep, possess or carry outside of his residence any firearm unless such person is duly authorized to keep, possess or carry any such firearm.”
A lie was devised to ensure compliance—the Philippine Constabulary had a hi-tech machine that could detect guns in a house like planes appearing as bleeps on radar.
People trooped to the police stations to surrender their firearms to avoid being arrested because of this supposed new “anti-gun” radar.
In June 29, 1983, President Ferdinand Marcos codified all his firearm-related pronouncements and issued Presidential Decree 1866.
The intent of the law was clear-–disarm the citizenry to make sure it won’t have a chance in case of an uprising.
Its highlights include the imposition of Reclusion Temporal (12 years and one day to 20 years) in its maximum period (17 years and four days) to Reclusion Perpetua (20 years and one day to 40 years) shall be imposed upon any person who shall unlawfully manufacture, deal in, acquire, dispose or possess any firearm, part of firearm, ammunition or machinery, tool or instrument used or intended to be used in the manufacture of any firearm or ammunition. (To be continued)
