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Philippine 2022 Election Gun Ban That Covers Airsoft Guns Starts On 9 January

OptimusPrime

PNP COMELEC Checkpoint 2016

The dreaded period by the Philippine airsoft community, the Election Gun Ban, will start on the 9th of January and will end on the 8th of June 2022. With the upcoming National and Local elections set on the 9th of May 2022 the country is bracing itself for violence that always mar elections in the Southeast Asian country.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is mandated to set up checkpoints to enforce the gun ban, especially in designated election hot spots. In Resolution No. 10728 issued by the Commission On Elections (COMELEC) promulgated last 10 November 2021, airsoft guns are covered by the gun ban (emphasis ours):

k. Firearm as defined in R.A. No. 10591 refers to any handheld or  portable weapon, whether a small arm or light weapon, that expels or is designed  to expel a bullet, shot, slug, missile or any projectile, which is discharged by means  of expansive force of gases from burning gunpowder or other form of combustion or any similar  instrument or implement, wherein the barrel, frame or receiver is considered a firearm.

The  term  shall  include airguns, airsoft  guns, and replicas/imitations of firearms in whatever form that can cause an ordinary person to believe that they are  real, including the parts  thereof, as defined under pertinent laws. The term shall also include antique firearms.

Imitation firearm, as defined under the same Act and as used herein, refers to a replica of a firearm, or other  device  that is so substantially similar in coloration  and overall appearance to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person  to believe  that  such imitation firearm is a real firearm. The term shall include airsoft guns.


PNP COMELEC Checkpoint 2016 02

That’s six months of no airsoft for the guys in the Philippines who only just got back to playing airsoft after one of the longest Covid-19 lockdowns in the world. Apart from not being able play airsoft, another thing that is dreaded by the airsoft community is that airsoft players tend to drift off to other outdoor-orientated hobbies such as cycling and don’t come back to airsoft once the gun ban is lifted. The airsoft community experienced a big decline in players after the 2010 National and General Elections as players took into cycling and running during the gun ban.

We’ll find out if there is another significant decline in players once the gun ban gets lifted after the elections. But for now, the airsoft players in the Philippines will have to sit out just cleaning and maintaining their airsoft guns at home whilst the greatest entertainment season in the Philippines, their elections, happen.

 

Photos: PNP COMELEC Checkpoints 2016 Elections (Philippine National Police Facebook Page)

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