Cops to visit homes of unlicensed gun owners ("expired license")

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) has launched "Oplan Kontra Boga," which would include home visits to gun owners with expired licenses, in a bid to reduce by three percent the number of loose firearms in the country every month.

The Chief of the PNP, Director General Jesus Verzosa, has issued a letter of instruction prescribing additional guidelines and procedures to curb the growing number of expired and unregistered gun licenses.

Under the newly-implemented guidelines, Verzosa instructed cops to conduct home visits to gun owners with expired licenses to either urge them to secure necessary documents or confiscate their firearms.

There are around 1.1 million firearms, according to PNP estimates.

Verzosa said the PNP headquarters would release to local police units by June 2 a complete list of delinquent gun owners so the necessary home visits could be immediately conducted, said PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome yesterday.

The move was among the recommendations raised during the first national summit on firearms control in Camp Crame earlier this month, Bartolome said.

The PNP spokesman also said that police operations against unregistered firearms would include dragnet operations in crime-prone areas, mobile checkpoints and chokepoints, intelligence build-up, application of search warrants and the dismantling of private armed groups.