With gun crime at a six-year high, the National Police Agency (NPA) should map out plans to clamp down on such activity, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Mark Ho (何志偉) said yesterday.
Ho made the comments a day after a shooting in Nantou County’s Caotun Township (草屯).
A former Kang Jian Biotech worker surnamed Lee (李) allegedly shot five company employees, killing four, while company manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) was in a critical condition.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
There have been 9,290 guns and 317,806 rounds of ammunition seized since 2017, with 1,217 guns found in New Taipei City, the most in the nation, and Taipei second with 1,077, Ho said, citing statistics from the NPA and the Coast Guard Administration.
Taipei leads in the number of bullets found at 98,117, he said, adding: “This is an astonishing amount of firepower.”
The NPA is to be commended for its dedication to its work by communicating with regional police forces and maintaining security at key locations in Taiwan, Ho said.
However, no one is talking about the source of the illegal guns, he said.
There are pages on Facebook that advertise guns for sale capable of firing rounds that can penetrate a sports utility vehicle, he added.
The Caotun incident highlights how easy it is to obtain a gun in Taiwan, Ho said.
Given how easy it is to obtain guns in Taiwan, the world might be led to believe that gun ownership is generally permitted here, he said.
The NPA should determine how guns are being sourced, and develop strategies and policies to prevent gun crimes, he added.
Criminal Investigation Bureau Deputy Director Huang Chia-chi (黃家琦) said that the bureau has a good record solving crimes, which should reassure people that Taiwan is a safe place.
The bureau would continue to shoulder its responsibility to keep the peace and allow people to feel safe, Huang said.
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