SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique — The Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO) is appealing to gun owners to support its ongoing campaign against expired or loose firearms as part of maintaining peace and order in the province.
APPO Deputy Director for Operations Supt. Norby Escobar said that since they launched the “TokHang Kontra Guinadilian nga Pusil” or the campaign against expired or loose firearms in July 23, there are still numerous firearms that have yet to be surrendered or confiscated by the police.
“We appeal to gun owners to surrender their firearms to their respective police stations while they are renewing their permit to own or possess firearms,” he said in an interview on Thursday.
He added that as of September 13, they were only able to confiscate 447 unregistered or loose firearms while 478 firearms were deposited at the police stations by their owners for safekeeping.
“We have still to reach our target of 3,061 loose firearms surrendered or confiscated and renewed within the year,” he said.
Escobar appealed to the public to also report persons they know who possess expired or loose firearms so that the police can approach them.
“The campaign is really the key to reduce crime incidents in the province,” he said.
The police officer also assured gun owners that the police will take care of their firearms deposited in the police stations noting this is the reason why some gun owners are hesitant to deposit their firearms.
“We have a measure to ensure that the firearm deposited would not be tampered,” he said.
He said that their measure is putting the firearm in a sealed container and police personnel are prohibited from opening it without the presence of the owner. (Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA)
