EDITORIAL — Those who have guns must secure them properly

Last Tuesday, a 16-year-old student tried to report to school in South Cotabato but was arrested after he was found with a 9mm pistol and several magazines.

It was a concerned citizen who told police that he saw the student with the gun on his way to school along the national highway. Police immediately intercepted him.

The student said he brought the pistol with him for self-defense, adding that it belonged to his older brother who is an active member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

We don’t know if the intention of the student was really to protect himself, but if he had more sinister motives then we are glad that this was prevented.

The school shooting in Tacloban that happened earlier last month was perpetrated by two young shooters who had stolen guns from their owners; one stole from his grandfather, a former security guard, while the other from his policewoman aunt.

If the two hadn’t been able to steal guns then that shooting wouldn’t have happened and three students would still be alive, 20 other students spared wounds and injuries, and countless other students spared trauma. We would also not be seeing this rash of school shooting threats that we are experiencing now.

Those who have guns, especially government-issued firearms, must secure them in such a way that those who shouldn’t touch these guns don’t get to.

Philippine gun laws require those who have guns to lock them securely in safes, but this was obviously not the case with some of the instances mentioned above.

In cases where their guns were used to hurt others, responsibility for the crime must be shared with the gun owners.

Because they are tools designed to deliberately injure or kill, guns are restricted to those who can handle them. Legally owning one is a privilege and not a right. And just like any privilege, it can and should be taken away from those who are no longer qualified to keep guns.