Police fail to provide security for civilians

Police fail to provide security for civilians

The killing of trainee waiter Yohannes Berchmans Haerudy Natong,
alias Rudy, at the Hilton Hotel in Central Jakarta on Jan. 1 has
raised questions about the policy allowing civilians to own guns.
The Jakarta Post asked some residents for their opinion.

Kiki, 25, a fresh graduate from the University of Indonesia in
Depok, West Java. He lives in a rented house in Pasar Minggu,
South Jakarta:

The policy to allow civilians to own guns demonstrates that
the police have failed to do their job to protect citizens,
especially people who live in big cities, such as Jakarta. If the
police can create an environment in which people feel secure,
they (civilians) won't need guns in the first place.

By allowing civilians to own firearms, police have added
another task in controlling legal gun circulation. They already
have so many things to take care of. Instead, they should
concentrate on curbing illegal guns that are used to conduct
crimes.

Besides, who knows what civilians will do if they have a gun
in their hands?

Ella, 37, a housewife and owner of a small shop selling basic
commodities in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta. She lives with her
husband and two children.

I don't agree with the idea of allowing several groups of
civilians to use guns, as it will be very unfair to others who
don't have access to such a "luxury". With the current
regulations, I believe only people with money can own guns. Thus,
it will only widen the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots".

What if these people use their guns to threaten or even kill
unarmed civilians? In the case of Adiguna, Parto and many others
indicate that gun-ownership by civilians is now commonplace.

I am very worried what happened to Rudy could also happen to
my son as several of his friends own a gun. All in all, civilians
shouldn't be allowed to have a gun under any circumstance.

;JP;BBN;
ANPAj..r..
Speakup

JP/8/Speakup

Bedjo Rahardjo, 59, lives in Depok. He is a retired civil servant
who is now a member of the Jakarta chapter of the Commission for
AIDS Control.

Well, it is not easy to say whether civilians should be
allowed to have firearms or not.

Ideally, only military and police personnel should carry
firearms. But the fact is that many people own illegal firearms.
Many weapons are in the hands of unscrupulous people who use them
for criminal activities.

This encourages many people, particularly the rich, to buy
them. Initially, the weapons are only intended for self defense,
but they can hurt innocent people as happened at the Hilton
Hotel.

I myself agree that civilians should be prohibited from owning
firearms on the condition that the police are serious about
conducting sweeping against all illegal weapons in society,
because I believe they know where the firearms can be found.

The question is do they really want to do a cleanup?