Ballistic exam available at PNP guns reg’l offices

BALLISTIC examination, which is necessary for acquiring gun licenses, can now be conducted at the 63 regional branches of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Firearms and Explosives Office, a police official said.

The test is only previously available at the PNP crime laboratory in Camp Crame in Quezon City.

“Right now, in compliance with the directive of the Supreme Court, we can now process in the regional offices all the PNP services required in the License To Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF), neuro-psychiatric exam, drug test, fingerprint, ballistics and fingerprinting. Ballistics

Test is previously available only at PNP crime laboratory in Camp Crame in Quezon City

and fingerprinting can be processed in 63 police offices nationwide, even in provincial police offices,” PNP Firearms and Explosives Office Chief Virgilio Lazo said.

Lazo, however, asked for patience from the applicants as the process “will still be a bit slow.” Peaceful, Responsible Owners of Guns (PROGun) secretary general Ticky Tabujara added the provision of the equipment nec- essary for ballistic test in the regional offices is “impossible.”

Last April, the SC issued a temporary restraining order on the three provisions of Republic Act 10591.

The provisions are the centralization of the application and renewal of gun licenses at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, the utilization of any courier services for the deliveries of the approved firearms license cards and allowing police personnel to enter the residences of firearms applicants and owners without a court-issued search warrant for inspection. (Third Anne Peralta/Sunnex)