QUEZON Rep. Reynante Arrogancia said on Saturday that there is a need for a defined criminal liability for negligent storage of firearms.
Arrogancia said House Bill (HB) 7708, or the proposed Child Firearm Access Prevention Act, seeks to address a gap in existing firearms regulations, which already require licensed gun owners to properly secure their weapons but do not specifically penalize negligent storage that results in access by young people.
”Responsible gun owners who properly secure their firearms have nothing to fear from this proposal,” Arrogancia said in a statement.
Under the bill, a gun owner may be held liable if the owner knows, or reasonably should know, that a person below 21 could gain access to the firearm, and that person obtains or discharges the weapon, or the access results in bodily injury or death.
The proposed penalty is imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to P100,000, or both.
Arrogancia said the measure, which he filed in February, remains subject to the legislative process and that its penalties could still be strengthened, particularly when a firearm made accessible through negligence is used to injure or kill someone.
This comes after a Grade 9 student at Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City shot and killed a Grade 10 schoolmate before taking his own life on Aug. 18. The attack was livestreamed using a body-worn camera.
Authorities said one of the firearms used in the attack was registered to the student’s father, a Bureau of Customs employee.
Arrogancia said Congress should now consider whether existing safeguards and penalties are sufficient to prevent similar incidents.
”In light of recent school shooting incidents where initial investigations indicate that the child suspects obtained the firearms from relatives who owned them, Congress should now take up HB 7708 and consider whether its safeguards and penalties need to be strengthened further,” Arrogancia said.
”When a gun owner is negligent, the law should also clearly establish the owner’s liability,” he added.
