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Sunday, September 25, 2005
Dad backs arming journalists
By Albert B. Lacanlale
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — “It’s better to have a gun and not use it than to have none when you need it.”
Within the guiding principle, San Fernando City Councilor Alex F. Patio is taking steps to promote responsible gun ownership, especially among media personalities.
As a step, Patio will be opening on Saturday his first-ever shooting competition at the Maimpis Firing Range in Barangay Maimpis in the city dubbed as the “1st Councilor Alex F. Patio Cup”.
Patio said the competition, which will be sanctioned by the Philippine Practical Shooters Association (PPSA), aims to show the public the bright side of responsible gun ownership.
“For so many decades now, the social stigma that gun owners are usually violent and abusive individuals remain and this is one of the reasons why we are promoting such competitions,” he said.
Patio said the competition, which will be participated in by various gun owners’ organizations in the country, also aims to promote the gun ownership as a sport.
In fact, he said, the winners in the competition may be drafted for future international competitions.
Social responsibility
The councilor said responsible gun owners could be deputized by the government to respond to emergencies that the police or barangay officials could not readily respond to.
Gun owners, he added, could be deterrent to crimes as lawless elements would hesitate to pull off their criminal acts in areas where responsible “shooters” are around.
“Criminals would think twice before committing their scams when they know that there are people who could properly protect themselves, like gun owners,” Patio said.
He however said just like any other individual, gun owners should also be held liable for any abuse in such authority given them.
Media practitioners, Patio added, should also be allowed to own guns as they are prone to danger inherent to their occupation.
“I fully support the proposal to arm journalists because of the danger posed by their occupation. To assure that these people effectively perform their duties in providing relevant information to the public, they should be guarded from threats to their lives,” he said.
(September 25, 2005 issue)
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