Senate OKs on 3rd reading bill to extend validity of firearm licenses

Voting 20-0, the Senate approved on third and final reading Monday a bill seeking to extend the validity of the license to possess firearms and ammunition from two years to five years.

Senate Bill No. 1155, under Committee Report No. 19, seeks to amend Republic Act No. 10591 or the "Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act" extending the renewal of firearm registration from four years to five years.

Under the bill, the registration of a firearm shall be renewed every five years from the birthdate of the licensee.

“Failure to renew the registration of the firearm on or before the date of its  expiration shall cause the revocation of the license. The said firearm shall be confiscated or forfeited in favor of the government after due process,” it stated.

It also further extends the validity of permit to carry firearms outside of residence from one year to two years “from the date of the approval of the application, unless sooner revoked or suspended.”

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, in his sponsorship speech, said a lack of practical renewal policies hinders gun owners from renewing their firearms because “license renewal means complying with voluminous documentary requirements and conditions.”

“In a country like ours, gun ownership is a privilege that is hidden behind numerous documentary requirements and countless conditions that must be met; then and only then can one avail of such privilege,” he said.

He said that before the enactment of Republic Act No. 10591 in 2013, the number of registered firearms was 1,650,353. This eventually increased to 1,869,684 after the approval of the law, based on data from the Firearms and Explosives Office of the Philippine National Police.

The same data also showed that as of August 31, 2019, 45% or 837,758 of the 1,869,684 previously registered firearms were not renewed, and 7,073 were accounted as loose firearms.

“This is exactly why we say that a mere increase in the number of registered firearms upon the implementation of RA 10591 is not considered an achievement, especially when a sizeable number of the owners choose not to renew their licenses despite the possible risk of imprisonment,” Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, said.

He added that setting the validity period of firearms registration from four years to five years is a practicable and obvious solution.

“It would serve us well if renewing our license to possess firearms comes at the same time that we renew the licenses of the firearms themselves. In effect, we are not just extending the validity of our firearms licenses; we are, more fundamentally, extending our capacity to be responsible, our capacity to defend ourselves and those whom we love,” he said. — BM, GMA News