By Hilda Austria/PNA
DAGUPAN CITY — The Pangasinan police has warned the public that the sale and use of gun replicas or toy guns and bladed weapons outside residences are prohibited under the election gun ban.
“For vendors, please cooperate and don’t sell toy guns to avoid being subject to our operations. But, of course, we do warn them at first and if they don’t listen then, that’s the time we will strictly enforce the law,” Senior Insp. Ria Tacderan, Police information officer of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPO), said in an interview Friday.
Tacderan said the Dagupan City police already confiscated 10 gun replicas in an abandoned store this week, while a man in San Manuel town was arrested for carrying and threatening his neighbors with a bolo on Thursday.
Agno police also arrested on January 13 a village watchman after he was reported drunk and causing trouble in their neighborhood.
Upon body search, police found six live ammunition of a 5.56mm gun from the watchman.
“We are just glad that since the start of the election period, which is also the start of the election gun ban, there has been no violator arrested at checkpoints,” Tacderan added.
Meanwhile, Pangasinan police encouraged gun owners with expired licenses to turn over their firearms to respective police stations for safekeeping.
On Thursday, five gun owners from Dagupan City, Malasiqui, Bayambang, Agno, and Calasiao voluntarily surrendered their firearms with expired licenses to the police.
