In an effort to reduce gun violence, Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has issued an order directing weapons registrars to cease issuing permits to carry guns for a period of one year, according to secretary Traisuree Taisaranakul.
She noted that the Firearms, Ammunition, Explosive, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearms Act is in compliance with the directive, known as Por 12.
It will go into force the day after it is published in the Royal Gazette, according to Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin, who is the one receiving it for approval.
The order, according to Ms. Traisuree, is a gun control policy that does not apply to state employees like police, who are allowed to carry firearms while performing their duties.
Suthipong Chulcharoen, the permanent secretary for the interior, announced last week that he had given provincial governors the order to direct guns registrars to cease issuing Por 12 permits in their regions.
Provincial governors, district chiefs, and deputy district chiefs are examples of guns registrars in the provinces; in Bangkok, the Provincial Administration Department’s director-general serves as the firearms registrar.
According to Mr. Suthipong, registrars of firearms have also been instructed to cease granting new licences for the import and sale of imitation firearms to licence holders who already hold one, and owners of blank guns, BB guns, or imitation firearms that can be converted into real weapons are advised to register their weapons with nearby registrars.
The actions come in response to several fatal shootings in Bangkok, which prompted demands for tougher gun control laws as well as a reassessment of the public’s ability to get handgun permits.
A 14-year-old kid went on a rampage at the Siam Paragon shopping mall on October 3, killing three people and wounded five more. This was the first shooting incident.
On November 11, during a fight between competing student gangs, a teacher at the Sacred Heart Convent School in Bangkok’s Klong Toey neighbourhood was shot and killed by a stray bullet.
A bullet struck a 15-year-old Mathayom 5 student shortly after during a fight between teenage gangs in the Suan Luang district.
