The Executive Yuan yesterday approved amendments that would impose a prison sentence of at least seven years for discharging a firearm in a public area, up from a sentence of no more than five years.
The approved amendments to the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) are to go the Legislative Yuan for further deliberation.
An Executive Yuan official, commenting on condition of anonymity, said that the amendments were advanced due to a recent slew of incidents in which people fired shots from improvised weapons in public.
Photo: Huang Chia-lin, Taipei Times
Although no one was injured in the incidents, they increased fear and unrest among the public, the official said.
The Ministry of the Interior said that the amendments would augment the ability of local governments to prevent gangs from firing weapons publicly, as the rule changes seek to control firearms at source.
The proposed rules say that if a person fires standard or improvised rounds of artillery, or rounds from a shoulder-launched weapon, machine gun, submachine gun, carbine, automatic rifle or pistol in or at a public space or a space where the public might frequent, they would face at least seven years in prison and a fine of NT$15 million (US$464,958).
Those who fire in such places with improvised pen guns, gas-powered guns, tranquilizer guns, hunting rifles, airsoft guns or spear guns would face a prison sentence of five to 12 years, and a fine of NT$10 million, the proposed changes say.
The amendments modify the phrasing of Article 18, replacing “shall” with “may” of the act from “any person who violates this act and surrenders himself/herself with all firearms, ammunition and knives shall have his/her penalties reduced or exempted” to “any person who violates this act and surrenders himself/herself with all firearms, ammunition and knives may have his/her penalties reduced or exempted.”
The amendments also propose new penalties for manufacturing, selling, transporting or illegally redistributing improvised firearms, making them criminal offenses as opposed to civil offenses, as they are now.
Penalties for those contravening the act by manufacturing, selling, transporting or distributing improvised firearms would be bolstered, with the fine of NT$2.5 million changed to one to seven years in prison along with a NT$7 million fine.
The amendments would also elevate the legal status of the Division on Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives to the “consultation division for controversial rulings on controlling guns, ammunition and knives.”
The proposed changes would also empower authorities to create ancillary laws that would define components, materials and lethality of firearms and other weapons.
Additional reporting by Wu Su-wei
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