Gun Running and the Economic of Crime

Prepared by: Von Lester M Cordero

Objectives:
 To Identify and discuss the Gun Law in the Philippines
 To define Gun Running and discuss the Modus Operandi of Gun
Smuggling and the Countermeasures of the Government
 To correlate the Gun Running to the Economic of Crime

Criminal Group- means a structured group of three or more persons, existing for a
period of time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious
crimes or offences established in accordance with this Convention, in order to obtain,
directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit.

Arms smuggling- refers to the import, export, acquisition, sale, delivery, movement or
transfer of firearms, their parts and components and ammunition, from or across the
territory of one country to that of another country which has not been authorized in
accordance with domestic law in either or both country/countries.

Firearm- refers to any handheld or portable weapon, whether a small arm or light
weapon, that expels or is designed to expel a bullet, shot, slug, missile or any projectile,
which is discharged by means of expansive force of gases from burning gunpowder or
other form of combustion or any similar instrument or implement. For purposes of this
Act, the barrel, frame or receiver is considered a firearm.

Class-A Light Weapons - which refer to self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines,
submachine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns not exceeding caliber 7.62MM
which have fully automatic mode.

Class-B Light Weapons - which refer to weapons designed for use by two (2) or more
persons serving as a crew, or rifles and machine guns exceeding caliber 7.62MM such
as heavy machine guns, handheld underbarrel and mounted grenade launchers,
portable anti-aircraft guns, portable anti-tank guns, recoilless rifles, portable launchers
of anti-tank missile and rocket systems, portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile
systems, and mortars of a caliber of less than 100MM.

Loose Firearm - refers to an unregistered firearm, an obliterated or altered firearm,

firearm which has been lost or stolen, illegally manufactured firearms, registered
firearms in the possession of an individual other than the licensee and those with
revoked licenses in accordance with the rules and regulations.

Small arms - refer to firearms intended to be or primarily designed for individual use or
that which is generally considered to mean a weapon intended to be fired from the hand
or shoulder, which are not capable of fully automatic bursts of discharge, such as
handgun, rifle and a shotgun.

The Republic Act No. 10591

An Act Providing For A Comprehensive Law On Firearms And Ammunition And

Providing Penalties For Violations Thereof or the “Comprehensive Firearms and
Ammunition Regulation Act”.

This was created to provide for a comprehensive law regulating the ownership,
possession, carrying, manufacture, dealing in and importation of firearms, ammunition,
or parts thereof, in order to provide legal support to law enforcement agencies in their
campaign against crime, stop the proliferation of illegal firearms or weapons and the
illegal manufacture of firearms or weapons, ammunition and parts thereof.

The Firearms and Explosive Office (FEO) of the PNP shall be the sole repository
of all firearms records to include imported and locally manufactured firearms and
ammunition.

The Acts and penalties for violations of RA 10591

ACTS PENALTY
The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be
imposed upon any person who shall
Arms Smuggling
engage or participate in arms smuggling
as defined in this Act.
Unlawful Manufacture, Importation, Sale or
Disposition of Firearms or Ammunition or
Parts Thereof, Machinery, Tool or The penalty of reclusion
Instrument Used or Intended to be Used in temporal to reclusion perpetua
the Manufacture of Firearms, Ammunition
or Parts Thereof.
Any laborer, worker or employee of a
licensed firearms dealer who shall
unlawfully take, sell or otherwise dispose
of parts of firearms or ammunition which
the company manufactures and sells, and
other materials used by the company in The penalty of prision mayor in its
the manufacture or sale of firearms or minimum period to prision mayor in its
ammunition. medium period shall be imposed upon
The buyer or possessor of such stolen part
or material, who is aware that such part or
material was stolen, shall suffer the same
penalty as the laborer, worker or
employee.
 The penalty of prision mayor in its medium
Unlawfully acquire or possess a small arm period shall be imposed upon any person
who shall
If three (3) or more small arms or Class-A The penalty of reclusion
light weapons are unlawfully acquired or temporal to reclusion perpetua shall be
possessed by any person; imposed
Any person who shall unlawfully acquire or The penalty of prision mayor in its
possess a Class-A light weapon maximum period shall be imposed upon
Any person who shall, unlawfully acquire The penalty of reclusion perpetua
or possess a Class-B light weapon
Any person who shall unlawfully possess
any firearm under any or combination of
the following conditions:
(1) Loaded with ammunition or inserted
with a loaded magazine;
(2) Fitted or mounted with laser or any
gadget used to guide the shooter to hit the The penalty of one (1) degree higher than
target such as thermal weapon sight that provided in paragraphs (a) to (c)
(TWS) and the like;
(3) Fitted or mounted with sniper scopes,
firearm muffler or firearm silencer;
(4) Accompanied with an extra barrel; and
(5) Converted to be capable of firing full
automatic bursts.
Unlawfully acquire or possess a major part
of a small arm The penalty of prision mayor in its
Unlawfully acquire or possess ammunition minimum period
for a small arm or Class-A light weapon
Unlawfully acquire or possess a major part
of a Class-A light weapon The penalty of prision mayor in its medium
unlawfully acquire or possess ammunition period
for a Class-A light weapon
Unlawfully acquire or possess a major part
of a Class-B light weapon The penalty of prision mayor in its
Unlawfully acquire or possess ammunition maximum period
for a Class-B light weapon

Gun Smuggling
 the activity of bringing guns  and other weapons into a country illegally,
especially for use against the government.
 is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes
part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational
criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arms, unlike other organized
crime commodities, is more closely associated with exercising power in
communities instead of achieving economic gain.
The Modus Operandi of the Smugglers are the following:
• Firearms arrive in the Philippines as undeclared or misdeclared items and
included with other goods, consigned to fictitious names and addresses;
• Firearms can also be dismantled into pieces and included among metal items or
machinery parts legally imported or exported; and
• Firearms are sometimes thrown from vessels at prearranged areas some
distance from the shore where they are later picked up by small boats and
brought to undisclosed places.

Government Countermeasures
• Legalization of Domestic Manufacturing of Firearms
The government has legalized local manufacture in the Province of Cebu in
Central Philippines. This has resulted in the regulation and better monitoring of
locally-made firearms.
• International Cooperation/ Networking
The PNP has developed increased international police and USA authorities to
identify and monitor the activities of gun traffickers, to pre-empt or neutralize their
gun-running activities and to exchange information related to syndicated groups.
This has resulted in a positive tone.
• Heightened Cooperation among Philippine Law Enforcement Agencies and
Military Units
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the PNP and other law enforcement
agencies have intensified intelligence coordination to determine bigtime as well
as small-time smugglers and illegal gun manufacturers.
Gun Running its Effect to the Economic of Crime
 “Surges” occur when gun running or gun violence increases sharply and
suddenly. In the neighborhoods where gun running or gun violence surges take
place, they significantly reduce the growth of new retail and service businesses.
 In 2014, Filipinos owned an estimated 3.9 million firearms. Some 2.1 million, or
half of these, are illegal. In contrast, the Philippine National Police and the Armed
Forces of the Philippines owned less than a million guns. State forces are clearly
outgunned.
 Data on Firearms Registration based on PNP Civil Security Group
Firearms Registration–LICENSED CITIZEN
as of July 15, 2022
FIREARMS WITH FIREARMS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (FIMS) RECORD (a)
REGION
OLD NEW
TOTAL
(2017 and Below) (2018 to Present)
NCR 320,645 212,189 532,834
1 65,589 3,439 69,028
2 38,244 2,112 40,356
3 118,236 7,873 126,109
4A 183,106 12,466 195,572
4B 21,330 1,229 22,559
5 32,165 1,614 33,779
6 70,891 3,242 74,133
7 54,545 3,149 57,694
8 20,762 1,083 21,845
9 31,188 1,279 32,467
10 33,754 1,375 35,129
11 36,626 4,817 41,443
12 33,254 1,759 35,013
13 13,000 576 13,576
CAR 20,434 1,037 21,471
ARMM 20,472 765 21,237
TOTAL 1,114,241 260,004 1,374,245

Firearms Registration–Juridical Entities

as of July 15, 2022
FIREARMS WITH FIREARMS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (FIMS) RECORD (j)
REGION
OLD NEW
TOTAL
(2017 and Below) (2018 to Present)
NCR 408,081 134,795 542,876
1 6,787 721 7,508
2 3,423 841 4,264
3 17,048 2,453 19,501
4A 21,140 4,427 25,567
4B 1,484 357 1,841
5 3,498 579 4,077
6 10,249 1,796 12,045
7 16,886 2,646 19,532
8 1,644 264 1,908
9 6,486 885 7,371
10 6,629 1,022 7,651
 11 19,110 3,492 22,602
12 6,166 549 6,715
13 3,994 649 4,643
CAR 2,272 227 2,499
ARMM 1,215 240 1,455
TOTAL 536,112 155,943 692,055

References:
 Republic Act No. 10591
 108TH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
 PNP-Civil Security Group
 GMA News
 https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/criminal-group
 https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/justice-policy-center/projects/economic-
impacts-gun-violence