Check borders to curb gun smuggling

OF late, we have been reading or hearing about shooting incidents happening nationwide. The most recent cases include the shooting of a 23-year-old businessman in Bukit Mertajam and the goldsmith robbery in Petaling Jaya where three of the robbers were armed with pistols.

Some of us are aware that it is not hard to hire a hitman or purchase/rent a gun in this country.

Armed banditry and criminal violence is something the previous government failed to tackle effectively. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know how the criminals obtained such firearms.

Simply put, it is due to corruption and ineffective measures to stop the smuggling of firearms especially at the border with Thailand.

Typically, the individuals who use firearms to commit violent crimes are not lawful purchasers but have obtained their firearms through an illicit (black) market either in Thailand, Indonesia or within Malaysia.

There are two Acts that control possession of guns in Malaysia – Arms Act (1960) and Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act (1971). It is relatively well regulated.

It is important to trace the source of the guns used by criminals. Routine tracing of firearms recovered from criminals is key to effective enforcement.

The data gathered can be used by law enforcement officers to identify the dealers who sell or supply a disproportionate number of their merchandise to criminals. These people should be subjected to increased scrutiny. Individual traffickers can also be identified through such data.

It is equally important to identify the points along the border used by syndicates to smuggle in guns. These can be found at the Thai and Kalimantan borders and also the southern area where boats come from Indonesia.

Our enforcement authorities need to be more effective to curb gun smuggling.