The Coast Guard Administration is considering revising rules governing the use of service rifles after a guard in its Hualien branch was shot dead and robbed of his gun on Sunday, administration officials said yesterday.
At the top of the list for review will be regulations on whether guards should carry live ammunition while bearing a rifle.
In Sunday's attack, the dead coast guard, a member of the administration's shore-based forces, did not have any live ammunition in his rifle.
Under administration rules, ammunition is held by a second guard on duty who is not issued with a gun.
The arrangement, which separ-ates the rifle carrier from the live ammunition, is aimed at preventing rifle misuse while on duty and came about two years ago following a spate of incidents involving loaded weapons.
One officer killed himself with a loaded rifle, while another soldier on duty at his unit in Ilan County went on a fatal shooting spree.
An administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the separation of rifles from live ammunition has contributed a lot to the administration's safety records, but that it has caused problems of its own.
"The soldier might have been able to control the situation if he had been armed with a loaded rifle," the official said.
"The administration will seek to review rules for the use of service rifles in the service. The current practice has many pluses, but it might need to be adjusted," he said.
The official acknowledged that anyone who is familiar with administration policy would know they have a better opportunity to grab a coast guard's rifle than that of a military soldier.
The separation of rifle carrier from live ammunition is not practised in the military, from which the administration gets the majority of its shore-based forces.
In the army, a soldier will carry both a rifle and live ammunition while standing on guard. The live ammunition will be a stored in two clips.
The administration initially adopted the same practice after its inauguration three years ago before dropping it a year later.
The administration not only restricts sentries from having direct access to live ammunition but also denies the use of rifles to coast guards who patrol coastal areas.
Patrol forces are equipped only with a stun gun, a police baton and night-vision goggles.
Critics of administration policy also argue that coast guards do not get enough shooting practice or combat skills training.
Coast guards spend most of their time on routine jobs such as guard duty, patrolling and law enforcement missions and often do not get the opportunity to practise shooting for months at a time.
The lack of shooting practice also leads to weapon deterioration.
Administration shore-based units store dozens of rifles, but only a few of them are in good condition, according to administration officials.
Also, the administration leadership has been known to prioritize the development of its sea forces, planning to turn the coast guard into an agency responsible only for maritime affairs.
In these conditions, the administration's shore-based forces become the last to be considered and were once said to be excluded from the planned maritime affairs agency that the coast guard is to be in the future.
The administration's shore-based forces now have nowhere to go since they are no longer wanted by the military, which counts them as "reduced forces" in the Chingshih personnel streamlining project.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS