A PROPOSAL to impose excise tax on firearms and ammunitions is being pushed by its legislators to improve the Philippines’ gun control system while using the revenue to promote responsible ownership and peace programs.
House Bill No. 3367 proposes a value-based tax on handguns such as pistols and revolvers, ammunition and its accessories at 10%. Other firearms and related accessories will be levied 11%.
The tax will be imposed on domestic manufacturers and importers.
The bill’s explanatory note says that this “market-based strategy” of gun control will “reduce the number of guns in circulation by raising the price of ownership while using tax revenue to actually promote preventive and capacity-building measures” in the firearms industry.
The Philippine National Police reported last month that it revoked 240 firearm licenses and confiscated 684 registered firearms found to be involved in numerous crimes and violations in the last four years.
The proposed measure would “reduce gun possession and promote responsible ownership by making these weapons more expensive for citizens who are not in law enforcement,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” F. Villafuerte, Jr. said in a statement on Wednesday.
Under Republic Act No. 10591, the firearms regulation law, the government collects gun-related fees through individual applications for license to possess, manufacture, sell, and upon registration of firearms.
The measure’s co-authors are Mr. Villafuerte, Camarines Sur Rep. Tsuyoshi Anthony G. Horibata, and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Nicolas C. Enciso VIII. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz