Police must be serious in sweep against illegal guns
Over 100,000 illegal firearms are now in the hands of criminals, mostly in Jakarta. The Jakarta Post asked some Jakarta residents what the city police must do to rid the capital of illegal guns.
Azhar, 39, a civil servant at the Directorate General of Air Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation in Central Jakarta, lives with his wife and two children in Tanjung Barat, South Jakarta:
I can't believe that Adiguna Sutowo could shoot a person just like that. From what I read, Rudy was just doing his job as a waiter. This incident proves that in Indonesia many civilians still have no self control. Thus, armed civilians are a threat to others who have no guns.
In view of the incident, I think the police should not allow civilians to own a gun, or at the very least, they should really screen the gun applicants before granting them licenses.
They also should conduct operations nationwide to look for illegal guns because it seems like almost anyone is able to get a gun.
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Arlene, 30, works as an employee with a government office in Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta. She resides with her family on Jl. Ampera in South Jakarta.
I think there is no need for civilians to own firearms. What for? Besides, can we ensure that there will be strict, regular checks to see whether the gun owners are suited to carry a firearm?
For people whose jobs place them at risk, firearms may be necessary, but I think the police should tighten requirements for the possession of firearms. Otherwise, incidents similar to the shooting at the Hilton hotel may repeat in the future.
Carelessness in the use of firearms often leads to fatal incidents.
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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?