Philippine National Police (PNP) has started the crackdown on all loose firearms and delinquent gun owners following the termination of the two-month nationwide gun amnesty on Monday.

Director General Jesus Verzosa, PNP chief, said that their determination to account for the estimated 800,000 remaining loose firearms across the country was further buoyed by what he described as “tradition of feudal politics and clan conflict” that precipitated the massacre of 57 persons in Maguindanao.

“The continued proliferation of loose firearms and the prevailing gun culture in some areas of the country are underlying factors that continue to promote feudal politics and clan conflict,” said Verzosa.

system of gun control in the country,” he added.“It (Maguindanao massacre) is an eye opener that highlights the urgency of establishing an effective

Early this year, the PNP leadership vowed to intensify the operation against loose firearms, which was estimated to be at 1.1 million in May this year, through National Firearms Control Program (NFCP).

The move, police officials said, is part of the security measure for the 2010 elections, what with the statistics that at least 70 percent of election-related violent incidents in 2004 and 2007 elections involve loose firearms.

Verzosa said the National Firearms Control Program (NFCP) offers an effective system of firearms control that will put in place strong measures to regulate and control the possession of firearms.

He explained that stronger gun control measures will effectively discount the possibility of registered firearms being used in criminal activity and ensure certainty of punishment for violators of firearms laws.

“The ultimate objective of the NFCP is to obtain a masterlist or a national firearms database with ballistics records of all firearms in the possession of private individuals, legal entities and government agencies to prevent these firearms from being used in crime or falling into the wrong hands,” said Verzosa.

Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman, said that they will still give a 15-day grace period for members of government agencies which issue firearms to its personnel, such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement
agencies.

“Government agencies including local government units were given until December 15 to submit their list of inventories of registered government-owned firearms. Otherwise, the firearms in their possession will be deemed as unregistered,” said Espina.