The government appears to be serious about controlling gun ownership and cracking down on illicit drug trafficking in the aftermath of the recent massacre at a childcare centre in Nong Bua Lam Phu province, where a total of 36 people, mostly pre-school children, were killed by a former police officer. The measures prescribed last week following a cabinet meeting attended by related ministries, however, regrettably left one crucial element off the table -- the major source of the guns on sale on the market.
Proposed measures focus on the requirement of a certified psychological evaluation for persons who want to buy a gun to make it harder to legally acquire a gun; random psychological evaluation of police officers to be done periodically and confiscation of their service pistols if they are found to be mentally unfit; an amnesty for owners of illegal firearms if they agree to surrender them to the authorities; and gun licence renewals like for a driver's licence.
Proposed measures for psychological evaluation are necessary. But whether they can be put into practice effectively remains to be seen as there are, currently, more than six million privately owned guns and none of their owners have been subject to a psychological evaluation before. For this proposed measure to be effective, it must be retroactively applied to former gun owners as well, not just beginners.
There is, however, one important aspect about gun ownership that appears to have evaded the scrutiny of the attendees of the meeting last week. That is the control of the number of guns on sale. Thailand also has the highest gun ownership in Asean, with more than 10.3 million firearms. The civilian gun ownership rate is 15.10 per 100 persons. Such figures put the kingdom second in Asia after Pakistan.
Currently, there is a quota system under which each gun shop is allowed to import a limited number of handguns and rifles. But on top of this quota system is the gun welfare scheme, under which the Ministry of Interior is authorised to import unlimited amounts of guns, particularly handguns, into the country for policemen or staff of other state agencies who need the weapons for self-protection or to protect their property. In a way, the Ministry of Interior is the largest gun importer in Thailand.
And more importantly, there is no limit on the number of guns one can buy under the gun welfare scheme or from ordinary gun shops. This means that one can buy and own as many guns as he/she can afford, provided that they have a clean criminal record.
The only difference for a gun acquired under the gun welfare scheme is that it cannot be sold or transferred to another person within the first five years.
It is incomprehensible why this aspect of gun ownership was not discussed by the authorities concerned, specifically the Interior Ministry, despite the fact that it contributes to widespread gun ownership.
Equally puzzling is why almost every police officer has to acquire a semi-automatic pistol, the Sig Sauer P365, through the gun welfare scheme, instead of a service pistol provided by the Royal Thai Police, which may be a used six-round revolver.
Why can't the RTP provide the police with a semi-automatic handgun so they don't need to dig into their pockets to buy one?
Without dealing with the country's largest gun importer -- which is the Interior Ministry -- the country's gun control policy will always be riddled with loopholes.