CALAMBA CITY, Laguna – The Laguna provincial police has intensified its campaign against loose firearms in preparation for the Yuletide Season to avert crimes and indiscriminate firing during festivities.
Laguna Police Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Cecilio Ison, Jr., said that as Yuletide Season begins, crime volume may increase and that loose firearms could be used in committing crimes.
In their search warrant operations, Ison said they had already confiscated some 16 assorted short firearms, six assorted long firearms, a hand grenade, 13 assorted magazines, 169 assorted ammunition, empty cartridges and gun holsters from Nov. 9 to 19 this year.
“Although the law states that the use of a loose firearm, when inherent in the commission of a crime can be considered as an aggravating circumstance, these loose firearms can still be the ‘instrument-of-choice’ of the offenders in committing crimes due to its difficulty of being traced,” Ison said.
He added that their operations led to the arrests of 14 suspects and neutralization of a member of the Paz gun-for-hire and Gun Runner Group identified as Ryan Bondad De Guzman.
The gun runner was killed in an armed encounter with law enforcers during the search warrant operation in San Pablo City where the operatives also seized 14 heat-sealed plastic sachets containing suspected white crystalline substance known as ‘shabu’, a small zip-locked plastic containing suspected dried marijuana leaves and assorted drug paraphernalia.
According to Ison, their hunt for loose firearms covers owners of unregistered, obliterated or altered, lost or stolen and illegally manufactured firearms. The search also includes registered firearms in the possession of an individual other than the licensee and those with revoked licenses in accordance with rules and regulations.
Ison urged the public to report any gun owners of loose or un-renewed firearm licenses at the same time persuade owners to surrender their loose firearms to avoid arrest. (Zen Trinidad/PNA)
