The right to bear arms
THE individual right of citizens to own and carry firearms for self-defense and other lawful purposes is generally termed as the “right to bear arms.”
The legal basis of the right to bear arms in the United States is primarily found in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. The Second Amendment, which was ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, states: “A wellregulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This amendment has been interpreted by the US Supreme Court and lower courts to affirm an individual’s right to possess firearms as inviolable.
Although the Philippine Constitution (past and present) was patterned after that of the United States, ours does not include such a right to bear arms. The Bill of Rights under Article III of the 1987 Constitution is silent on that matter. For now, gun ownership in the Philippines is governed by Republic Act 10591, or the “Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act (CFARA).”
This law states that, “It is the policy of the State to maintain peace and order, and protect the people against violence. The State also recognizes the right of its qualified citizens to self-defense through, when it is the reasonable means to repel the unlawful aggression under the circumstances, the use of firearms. Toward this end, the State shall provide for a comprehensive law regulating the ownership, possession, carrying, manufacture, dealing in and importation of firearms, ammunition, or parts thereof, in order to provide legal support to law enforcement agencies in their campaign against crime, stop the proliferation of illegal firearms or weapons and the illegal manufacture of firearms or weapons, ammunition and parts thereof.”
PNP announcement
The Philippine National Police (PNP) announced on March 4 that civilians will now be allowed to own semiautomatic rifles after it made some minor amendments to the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the CFARA.
Col. Jean Fajardo, PNP spokesman, said that private citizens who own rifles, especially the 7.62 millimeter (mm) (M14s) and below, that are semiautomatic, but not fully automatic, can now be licensed.
Did the PNP reinterpret the CFARA or modify some of its provisions?
The PNP announcement raised howls and opposition even before it became effective after a 15-day publication period. The bone of contention lies in the interpretation of Section 10 of CFARA. Here is the full text of Section 10:
“SEC. 10. Firearms that may be registered. — Only small arms may be registered by licensed citizens or licensed juridical entities for ownership, possession and concealed carry. A light weapon shall be lawfully acquired or possessed exclusively by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the PNP and other law enforcement agencies authorized by the president in the performance of their duties: Provided, That private individuals who already have licenses to possess Class-A light weapons upon the effectivity of this Act shall not be deprived of the privilege to continue possessing the same and renewing the licenses therefor, for the sole reason that these firearms are Class ‘A’ light weapons, and shall be required to comply with other applicable provisions of this Act.”
In that particular section, it is specific that only “small arms” may be registered by licensed citizens. However, there is a qualifier that if the private citizen already possesses a light weapon, then that person can continue renewing the license for that weapon. Probably, the PNP thought that there should be equality — not only a selective pre-ownership of light weapons but the availability of the same for all those qualified.
CFARA defined Class-A light weapons as those “which refer to self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns not exceeding caliber 7.62 mm which have fully automatic mode.”
On the other hand, small arms refer to “firearms intended to be or primarily designed for individual use or that which is generally considered meaning a weapon intended to be fired from the hand or shoulder, which are not capable of fully automatic bursts of discharge” such as handgun, pistol, revolver, shotgun and rifle. Rifle is a shoulder firearm or designed to be fired from the shoulder that can discharge a bullet through a rifled barrel by different actions of loading, which may be classified as lever, bolt or self-loading.
Legal-to-own firearms
Semiautomatic firearms are legal to own for civilian use in most countries, and they are among the most commonly owned types of firearms. A semiautomatic firearm is one that fires one round (bullet) each time the trigger is pulled, automatically ejects the spent cartridge case, and then loads the next round into the chamber for firing, without the need to manually operate the firearm’s action.
Many popular firearms, including handguns, rifles and shotguns, are semiautomatic. These firearms are widely used for various purposes such as self-defense, hunting and sport shooting.
Also, the 7.62-mm cartridge is not specific to rifles but is even used in most handheld pistols and small arms. The 7.62-mm designation refers to the internal diameter of the barrel at the lands. The actual bullet caliber is often 7.82 mm (0.308 inches).
Overall, semiautomatic firearms are already owned by qualified Filipinos, with their purchase and ownership subject to the CFARA rules and regulations, aimed at promoting public safety and preventing misuse. Having one additional light weapon in an individual’s arsenal won’t make any difference.
What should we watch out for? It is the unregistered weapons in the hands of individuals who are not legally allowed to possess firearms, which may be used in violent crimes or even acts of terrorism — not the registered ones.