Baffling statistics fail to hide Thailand's worrying gun crime problem

[misterkeeperofthereef]

Does this include the beloved bum guns ?

[connda]

Does this include the beloved bum guns ?

Banning 'bum guns' would lead to quite a stink here in the LOS.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Remember no transparency in any sector. 10 million known guns. And higher hand gun murders, per population than America!

Finally Thailand first in something even if that something is nothing.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

An order for 150,000 pistols sig sauer p320 @ 18,000 baht a gun = 270000000 baht ,

a policy of no hand in service pistol you have now , then no new one given,

scrutiny by independent ,verifiable and accountable issuer.

when you consider technology with stun guns and tasers and strobe lights as an effective tool one wonders why we need more guns in todays society period.

Nah..Buck a stun gun...I prefer a gun and the AT&T approach reach out and touch someone...

[jaywalker]

Lot s of countries have this worrying trend happening, Australia has gun control , that hasn't stopped gun related crime and murder on a weekly basis , it possibly only slows down the effect, there is a high degree of knifings being used as a weapon of choice in OZ also, so , you eliminate one another comes along.....................

"... there is a high degree of knifings being used as a weapon of choice in OZ also, so , you eliminate one another comes along......"

Yes, but it's more difficult to slaughter 50 school children with a knife than an assault rifle, right?

A sword works pretty good.

Kids.. sword? yeah 50 would take no time at all if one wanted to do it.

It's a sickening thought, but, could be done without gunpowder.

I know the video below is fiction, but it's based on fact.

The Romans ruled the known world with knives.

[Asheron]

Gun control means only one thing: making it harder to get a legal gun.

If i wanted to have an illegal gun in Sweden i could have one in my hand within a day and i don't even know "shady people".

So no, i didn't prove your point. I just proved my point that gun control doesn't combate gun crime as almost all the gun crime is done with illegal guns.

Most of the recent mass shootings in the USA were carried out with legally obtained weapons.

Please do tell me and eveyone else which recent mass shootings were with legal guns.

[thaihome]

Please do tell me and eveyone else which recent mass shootings were with legal guns.

Cannot post link to another news source here. Do Google search on "mass shooting legal guns". Many sources will result. 80% of mass shootings in last 30 years were with legal weapons.

TH

[springheeled jack]

i totally agree it appears to be getting worse guns are on the increase crime is escalating and there doesnt appear to be an end result .

[springheeled jack]

i totally agree it appears to be getting worse guns are on the increase crime is escalating and there doesnt appear to be an end result .

[Lord Lucan]

I'm a member of an established gun club at Bisley in Surrey England, I would love to bring a couple of my treasured air rifles to Thailand for my long stays here but sadly I can't, not to kill people as I am a responsible Englishman but to join a target shooting club.

Instead I hope the authorities will allow me to bring out my old flack jacket so I can feel safer riding my scooter out here in the "land of smiles and guns"

[No1inbangkok]

You can always spot the American in a gun control argument

And those who are jealous of their freedoms

No, I've never wanted to shoot anybody.

[Time Traveller]

You can always spot the American in a gun control argument

And those who are jealous of their freedoms

No, I've never wanted to shoot anybody.

People don't own firearms because the want to shoot people. The law abiding own them because they are free to do so.

[Arkady]

There have been various efforts to limit legal gun ownership in Thailand in recent years but none have got very far.  During Thaksin's time a policy was introduced to limit new applications to no more than one handgun and one long gun per person and Thaksin talked for a while about one day recalling all privately owned guns and limiting ownership to military and police. As a national policy this was quietly dropped after Thaksin's ousting, although some provinces may still enforce similar rules limiting quantities per person, since provincial governors have discretion to impose stricter rules than the national law prescribes, depending on their perceptions of the security situation.  Under Thaksin Por 12 concealed carry permits became almost impossible for ordinary citizens to obtain and that remains the same till today. In the 70s, when the communist insurgency was going on, a law was passed allowing anyone with a gun permit to carry their weapon concealed in public places, on the basis that the police couldn't protect rural areas from the insurgents.  But that law was repealed without a few years, when the insurgency was no longer a threat.  The current military government placed a temporary ban the import of high powered rifles (mainly .223 and .308) for sale to civilians in January 2016 but it didn't prevent the sale of stocks already in country and the ban was lifted at the end of last year.  It also had the only high powered rifle range for civilians in Bangkok (but not the ones in the provinces) shut down for all of last year but it reopened at the beginning of this year.  This measure was presumably out of a fear of snipers getting equipped and trained for use in political disturbance, rather than a measure to control gun violence in general.  In sum, the only aspect of gun control that has been really tightened up is the issue of concealed carry permits.

 

There has never been any support from the police for the idea of tighter gun control in general.  They seem to take the view that citizens should buy guns to protect their own homes and not bother the police.  Moreover the Interior Ministry which is tasked with enforcing the current 1947 Firearms Act has a vested interest in not tightening up gun control.  In recent years it has imported hundreds of thousands of firearms for sale to civil servants at a discount to local prices under the Civil Servants Welfare Scheme.  The amounts to several times the combined annual quotas of all gun shops in the country.  Although the 'welfare' guns are sold at a discount, prices are still sharply higher than US prices.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that these large scale imports are extremely lucrative.  The existence of this scheme must surely create a significant conflict of interests for the MoI in its role of formulating and recommending new gun control policies to whoever is in power.  Without support from the police and the Interior Ministry, it is unlikely that any initiative towards tighter gun control would achieve much lasting traction.

Personally I would be in favour more strict enforcement of existing gun control laws and stiffening of penalties for illegally carry loaded firearms in public  including in cars, which many Thais seem to do as a matter of course, knowing that the chances of drawing a stiff sentence for that are not very high.  Those with unregistered firearms or manufacturing or trafficking them should have the book thrown at them with lengthy mandatory jail sentences.  If the police can prove they can enforce existing laws properly and start mopping up some of the supply of illegal weapons, then it might be even worth considering some tighter gun control measures.

[blackcab]

On 16/02/2016 at 0:47 PM, leeneeds said:

...a policy of no hand in service pistol you have now , then no new one given,..

 

Police are not able to hand in their service pistol because the sidearms currently used by police are individually owned.

 

Up until now police have had to supply their own weapons (and ammunition). This is why you see such a wide variety of weapons in use.