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Right to own handguns
Senator Pete Reyes and Department of Public Safety Commissioner James DeLeon Guerrero’s idea to make handgun ownership very difficult is a violation of every law-abiding citizens’ right to own handguns. The CNMI’s existing firearms law is very stringent and one of the most restrictive under the jurisdiction of the U.S.A. The law does not need to be more restrictive.
The idea that handgun ownership by law-abiding citizens will cause chaos, more crime, and require a need for more policemen is ridiculous. This idea comes from baseless assumptions and speculation; it is not proven by facts. If what the commissioner and the senator say are true then Chicago would have few handgun crimes and Phoenix would have multiple times more.
Senator and commissioner, stop misleading the public. The criminals already have their handguns. If they don’t, they will find ways to get one even under the existing gun law. You are just punishing law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves from criminals and home invaders with your misguided opinions and assumptions. Criminals by definition do not abide by the law. Any law restriction on gun ownership does not affect the criminals; it affects the law-abiding citizen.
Guam, our neighbor, does not have chaos and rampant handgun crimes because handguns are readily available for their law-abiding citizens. They also do not make regulations to discourage their law-abiding citizens from bearing firearms—be it handguns, rifles, or shotguns.
Stop the fear mongering and try to concentrate on solving unsolved crimes. Focus on catching those criminals; focus on keeping the public safe and bringing closure to those victims and their families, rather than spending more time and energy on trying to restrict the gun rights of law abiding citizens. What the police force needs is more training in investigating many unsolved crimes. Concentrate also on the elimination of the importation or manufacturing of the drug “ice” or meth, which is devastating the lives of our young men and women in our islands.
Joseph I. Pangelinan
Garapan
