EDITORIAL - Comelec: No one can be trusted with a gun

As part of its announcement regarding the January 13 start of the election gun ban, the Comelec went out of its way to stress the fact that President Aquino may be the most powerful man in the country but he is still not exempt from the ban.

Why Comelec had to make the point is both puzzling and funny. Of course Aquino is not exempt from the ban. Nobody is, except those clearly identified by the Comelec itself as needing guns to carry out their responsibilities, such as the military and the police.

Aquino may be a great lover of guns, but certainly the Comelec does not expect him to go packing one in public during the election season just for the heck of it. Besides, even if Aquino does, clearly he is not the kind of person against whom the gun ban is being effected.

Maybe the Comelec has grown desperate in its bid for credibility that it had to patronize Aquino without the president even realizing he was being patronized. What a limp attempt by the Comelec to do with words what it cannot with deeds.

If Comelec truly wants to crack down on firearms during the election period, maybe it should engage in less fanfare and just do what it has to do in coordination with the police and other deputized law enforcement agencies.

There is no denying the fact that guns have become a problem in this country, and not just during the election period. In fact, just before the Comelec made the announcement as it prepares for the election season, several gun-related incidents have rocked the country.

It is true guns on their own do not kill and that it is people who do. That is why it is imperative not to put guns in the hands of people. If humans have been proven time and again to lose their minds in fits of anger, then there cannot be such a thing as a responsible gun owner.

In fact, silly though the Comelec announcement may be, but insisting that even Aquino himself is not exempted from the election gun ban is the clearest assertion anyone can make that no one, not even the president of a country, can be trusted with a gun.