TO avoid arrest during surprise visits by law enforcers, gun owners are urged to renew immediately their licenses to own and possess firearms before this week ends.
Keeping a gun with a license that had expired may send owners to jail, a local police official said.
To help urge gun owners apply for a license before the elections next month, a team from the PNP Camp Crame in Manila is set to arrive in Cebu to receive, check and process applications and renewals of these licenses in the locality.
Supt. Oscar Monterroyo, community relations chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said “They will be here. They will also be the ones to process subsequent issuance of even temporary LTOPF (license to own and possess of firearm),” Monterroyo said.
Requirements
Monterroyo noted that local election candidates, among others, are highly urged to submit their requirements for the acquisition of a license on or before Friday, April 15.
Personnel of the Firearms and Explosives Office of PNP Camp Crame will arrive on April 19 to start the receiving and processing of applications.
Monterroyo said that although there is an election gun ban, which prohibits any gun owner to carry their guns out of the house unless authorized, licensing efforts will have to continue to help those whose gun licenses have expired within the ban period.
Warning
Last March 11, CCPO Deputy Director Artemio Ricabo warned owners of guns to make sure their gun licenses had not expired yet or they might be arrested anytime in April.
Ricabo said this is a part of the drive against indiscriminate use of guns as the police are intensifying operations in line with the nationwide election gun ban.
Every police station commander has been tasked to knock on the doors of gun owners in his area to see if the citizen’s license to possess a firearm has been renewed or not.