Nationwide Firearms Audit Sought for Public Officials Amid School Shootings

A LAWMAKER on Wednesday called for a nationwide audit of firearms issued to, owned or possessed by government officials and employees following a series of deadly school shootings involving weapons linked to public personnel. Party-list Rep. Jose Manuel I. Diokno, along with Reps. Percival V. Cendaña, Haima “Dadah” Kiram Ismula and Dinagat Island Rep. Arlene “Kaka” J. Bag-ao, filed House Resolution No. 1468 seeking a review of how government-issued and privately owned firearms of public officials and employees are accounted for, stored and secured. The resolution followed fatal school shootings in Tacloban City, Zamboanga City and Banga, South Cotabato over the past three months. The government should not stop at maintaining records of firearm ownership or issuance but should also verify whether the weapons remain in the custody of authorized personnel and are properly secured, Mr. Diokno said in a statement. “Our government needs to take action now to prevent these kinds of incidents,” he said in Filipino. “It is not enough that we just have a record of who the guns are assigned to.” The resolution directs the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosive Office to conduct a comprehensive safety audit and physical accounting of firearms issued to, owned or possessed by public officials and employees. The audit would check the records, physical possession, authorization, condition and safekeeping of the firearms, according to the resolution. “Accountability must not end with recording who was issued a firearm,” Mr. Diokno said. “We must also account for how it is stored, how it is secured, and how it is kept out of the hands of unauthorized persons.” — Pexcel John Bacon