Up in arms?

Should Indonesians be allowed to carry guns? Or should the current tight restrictions on gun ownership at least be loosened? For most of us the answer to these questions is simple enough. No. While many Indonesians of all ages are addicted to action movies in which not a minute goes by without a bomb exploding or a gun blazing, they shake their heads in shock and disbelief at reports of school children in the United States shooting dead their friends, parents or teachers.

Very few teenagers believe the time will ever come when youths in Indonesia will settle their squabbles with guns, much less revel in roadside shooting sprees -- the kind of senseless street killings the participants indulge in just for the fun of it -- that they might have read about in newspapers and magazines. Only two months ago, the question of free gun ownership was still a long way from becoming a real subject of public debate in this country.

Yet, unlikely as it may have seemed at the beginning of May, questions such as these are of actual relevance for many people in Jakarta at present. Though official police confirmation is as yet still lacking, an illegal trade in guns of various makes and calibers is widely reported to have emerged in the wake of the vicious riots of May 13 and May 14.

In a statement to reporters on Thursday, Jakarta police chief Maj. Gen Noegroho Djajoesman said the authorities have, since July 1, seized 10 guns in citywide operations. Among those confiscated were an FN .32 caliber rifle and .22 and .32 caliber Colts. Police officers are being deployed in business centers, busy intersections and in areas such as nearby Cilegon, Tangerang and Bekasi, where armed robberies are commonplace. Police say they have uncovered leads in places where guns are allegedly being sold illegally.

Noegroho's comments come in the wake of media reports that the crime rate in the city is rising and that guns can be easily obtained on the black market, despite a strict ban on the unlicensed ownership of firearms. Many wealthy Chinese- Indonesians and some expatriates are reported to have obtained black market guns to defend themselves in anticipation of fresh riots in which they may become targets.

All of this notwithstanding, most Indonesians appear to remain strongly opposed to a loosening of gun licensing requirements out of the not unreasonable fear that such guns might fall into the wrong hands. In fact, though Jakarta is believed to compare favorably in terms of its crime rate, many citizens worry about the apparent increase in violent crime in the city.

Still, as University of Indonesia criminologist Adrianus Meliala has pointed out, people cannot be blamed for buying guns under present circumstances. Meliala argues that while the security authorities keep claiming that Jakarta is safe, people see otherwise. "Criminal acts are committed not only by crooks, but by angry mobs as well." Meliala says. "That is something new and people are afraid of it. So the police cannot forbid them from buying guns to defend themselves."

In other words, what Meliala is saying is that while loosening gun ownership requirements is not the option most Indonesians would favor, many people feel they have little choice but to arm themselves as long as the authorities appear unable to guarantee them the protection they are entitled to under the law.

It seems safe to say that most Indonesians agree with Meliala. In the case of Jakarta, one particular gripe that has so far been left unanswered concerns the perceived inaction on the part of the city's security personnel during the riots. Rightly or wrongly, the impression exists that the authorities left the people to fend for themselves during those critical moments.

This and other lingering questions must be cleared up if a true sense of security is to be restored. Owning a gun is not a guarantee for safety. But, as has been said, people can hardly be blamed for using whatever means they can to defend themselves in the absence of official protection.