Should we celebrate or be scared?
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has reduced the number of requirements and streamlined process in getting gun permits.
“PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said the 10 requirements for a license to own and possess firearms (LTOPF) have been reduced to just four: the neuro-psychiatric screening, drug test, police clearance and the RTC/MTC or NBI clearance,” reports Jerome Aning in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“As we are streamlining the processes, we are further automating our system, so that [applicants] need not queue anymore. As President [Duterte] said, he does not want people falling in line for a government service,” said Dela Rosa in the sidelines of the 24th Defense and Sporting Arms Show at a mall in Mandaluyong City on Thu, Jul 14.
That means the PNP will be issuing a “commitment slip” to applicants when they apply for an LTOPF. The slip will indicate how long the processing [will take] so that applicants need not keep going back to the PNP-Firearms and Explosives Office.
Ideally, as the report pointed out, “if the application is filed by 11am, the commitment slip will state that the license is ready by 5pm of the same day.” If the application is filed after 11am, the permit will be available the following day.
The report noted: “The firearms and explosives officer who fails to release the license on the date and time stated in the commitment slip will be required to explain the delay to the applicant.”
