OF THE 11,314 gun holders, only 1,090 of them were able to deposit a total of 1,201 loose firearms, and guns with expired licenses for safekeeping at different police stations in Negros Occidental from July 24 to January 20.
Four persons were arrested and four firearms were recovered in police operations.
Chief Inspector Edison Garcia, public information officer of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo), said all gun holders in the province were subjected to house visitation, but most of them do not exist in their registered addresses based on the records forwarded to Nocppo from the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.
Some also reported that their firearms were missing, but they must have a certificate to validate their claim, he added.
Garcia said they continuously intensifying their campaign against illegal firearms and ammunition.
Meanwhile, Garcia also said that 22 of the total number of deposited firearms were homemade guns which are considered illegal.
He said deposited firearms are those with expired licenses and can be returned to the owners once they were able to renew their gun licenses.
However, homemade firearms which were turned over to the police stations cannot be returned to the owners, as they will be subjected for destruction at the Police Regional Office (PRO)–Western Visayas in Iloilo City.
The regional headquarters launched the intensified campaign against loose firearms following violent and deadly incidents using firearms in Western Visayas last year.
Nabbed
A 17-year-old boy was arrested for illegal possession of firearm and Commission on Elections gun ban in Barangay Old Poblacion, Escalante City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, January 22.
The minor-suspect, whose name was withheld by police, allegedly threatened a man at gunpoint in the said village for an unknown reason.
Police recovered from him a magnum caliber .357 revolver loaded with three live ammunition.