City inclined to regulate airsoft activities

BAGUIO CITY May 11 - Members of the local legislative body are inclined to pass the appropriate legislative measure to regulate the activities of various airsoft organizations in the city to prevent the occurrence of untoward incidents that pose a threat to the safety of the public.

The local legislators arrived at a consensus to pass the necessary legislative measure that will regulate the conduct of airsoft activities in the city once it will be able to get the proper inputs from the nine airsoft groups that are said to exist in the city.

During the regular session of the City Council last Monday, only officers of two airsoft groups appeared and aired their support to the enactment of the necessary regulations regulating airsoft games to prevent incidents that pose a threat to the public.

The legislative inquiry on airsoft games in public places was triggered by an incident last March 9, 2017, where Tuba Municipal Councilor Joshelle Ruth BentrezBancilo suffered a broken tooth after she was hit by a wayward airsoft bullet that got through the safety nets installed by the organizers while she was attending a family reunion at the Ibaloi Park.

Councilor Bancilo informed the local legislators that the airsoft organizers committed to compensating her for but they failed to comply with their agreement forged before Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, thus, she is filing the appropriate charges against them before the city prosecutor’s office.

The council members all agreed that

airsoft games should be done in open spaces with less population to minimize the threat to the public.

While airsoft firearms are exempted from the coverage of the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms Law, local legislators reminded holders of airsoft firearms to police their own ranks and avoid displaying their guns in public.

The local legislative body again extended an invitation for the officers of the other airsoft clubs in the city and officials of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) to appear before the council’s regular session on May 29, 2017, to answer questions from the members before the enactment of the appropriate legislative measure that will regulate airsoft games in parks and playgrounds in the city.

Some local legislators also raised the fact that there were numerous complaints received by their respective offices regarding the danger brought about by airsoft games even in places outside the city such as in Suello village and in Balacbac, thus, the need for all the airsoft groups to be present in the scheduled hearing so that they be the ones to propose what safety measures could be adopted to regulate their activities.

City Councilors also want airsoft groups to stop displaying their firearms and uniforms to the public to prevent the negative perception of the people on the actual use of their airsoft firearms, among others. Dexter See