The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments adding a penalty of at least seven years in prison for discharging a firearm in public.
The amendments to the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) state that in addition to jail time, a person who fires a gun in public could be fined up to NT$15 million (US$479,019).
The change, proposed by the Ministry of the Interior, follows police seizures of new kinds of modified guns that have been involved in incidents that resulted in casualties.
Photo:CNA
Prior to the amendments, firing any kind of gun in public was not treated as a criminal offense under the Criminal Code.
A provision in Article 63 of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) treated “firing a weapon without justifiable reasons in public” as a crime, but only carried a penalty of no more than three days in prison or a fine up to NT$30,000.
The revised law regulates all types of firearms, ammunition and related equipment to enhance the traceability of nonstandard firearms, the ministry said.
Public use of a nonstandard firearm comes with a jail sentence of five to 12 years and a fine of up to NT$10 million.
Those who manufacture, sell, transport or transfer replica guns could face a sentence of up to seven years in jail and a fine of up to NT$7 million, while those who manufacture, sell or transport parts for replica firearms without approval could be fined NT$1 million to NT$10 million.
If the offense is serious, the seller could be ordered to suspend or terminate their operations, the bill says.
Nonstandard guns are considered firearms that are produced by factories not licensed by the government, and include modified guns.
Replica guns are defined as devices resembling a real firearm in terms of its exterior, structure and materials used to produce it, and could be altered to fire like a real gun.
The amendments also revise a provision stipulating that people who contravene the law, but surrender with all of their firearms, ammunition and knives “may” have their penalties reduced or exempted.
Previously, the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act stated that individuals surrendering their firearm “shall” have their penalties reduced or exempted.
Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) yesterday said the amendment aimed to curb the circulation of nonstandard weapons, including modified and replica firearms, and stiffen penalties.
About 90 percent of the illegal weapons seized by police this year had been modified, Lin said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS