Police vow tighter gun control in Cambodia
Friday, 29 Jan 2021
11:46 AM MYT

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/ANN): The National Police have vowed to tighten gun control and crack down on illegal weapon trafficking in order to maintain security, safety and social order as officials and civil society organisations are worried about increasing rates of gun violence.

Shootings in Cambodia are rare compared to some countries but they do take place every year. Many of the cases stem from interpersonal conflicts like spousal jealousy, arguments following vehicle accidents and disputes over land.

Theam Bun Seng, director of the Ministry of Interior’s weapon control department, said guns in the Kingdom are governed by the Law on Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition Management consisting of six chapters with 26 articles.

The law has been in place since 2005. The law was created in order to place controls on all things related to guns and other dangerous weapons.

That includes provisions regarding carrying, possession and use of guns for self-defence, the sale and purchase of guns, lending a gun, moving a gun, hiring security guards with guns, manufacture of guns, modifying guns and repairing guns.

He added that those who have the right to legally possess a gun included directors, deputy directors, members of the National Assembly and the Senate, the Constitutional Council, the Supreme Council of Magistracy, ministers and a number of other officials below those ranks.

Sub-national level officials who are permitted to own or possess guns include municipal and provincial governors and their deputies, and district governors and councillors.

Furthermore, he noted, members of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), Military Police and National Police with the rank of colonel or higher could also legally possess guns.

Those in uniform who are of a lower rank than colonel may carry a gun while going about their official duties with permission from their unit. When off-duty, however, they must return the weapons to the armoury.

All officials who are permitted by law to carry guns have the duty to maintain security and order and defend Cambodia’s territorial integrity.

They can defend themselves if they come under attack or defend any other person who is in danger.

“In order to effectively stop illegal weapon use, we will use active measures like patrols and inspections. We will install checkpoints along the roads and in high traffic areas to crack down on the illegal transportation and trafficking of weapons and explosives of all kinds.

“We will also take administrative action to strengthen the management and control of existing weapons before we issue anymore licences allowing personal ownership of weapons, ” he said.

According to Article 20 of the ammunition management law, those found guilty of illegal possession of weapons, explosives and ammunition of all types shall be subject to between six months and two years in prison and a fine of between 500,000 and 2,000,000 riel ($125 and $500).

Article 23 of the same law states that those who are engaged in weapons trafficking or found to be stockpiling weapons face five to 10 years imprisonment.

Licadho deputy director Am Sam Ath said the recent increase in gun violence has been worrisome and he believes it may be due to loopholes in the existing gun control law.

He said some people who are found to be in possession of guns illegally had escaped punishment with the help of powerful and well-connected people who intervened on their behalf.

Sam Ath pointed out that many of the violent incidents or other cases where guns had been misused were not due to illegal guns but were in fact perpetrated by government officials who abused their legal right to carry a gun.

Sam Ath cited as example instances where officials threatened and even killed others they were having personal disputes with or threatened people who were innocent of wrongdoing but were less powerful than them.

He said officials sometimes used their guns to make arbitrary demands of others and to show off their power and influence in order to make others respect and fear them.

“All of these cases show brutality and inhumanity and show a lack of ethics and professional training among those allowed to carry guns. If we control legal guns ineffectively we can’t expect to get the problem of illegal guns under control.

“And then the use of guns becomes anarchic [here]. So, [the government] should pay more attention to [better control of legally owned guns], ” he said.

Theam Bun Seng said: “We share those concerns and we are introducing new plans and considering a series of strict measures to control those guns more effectively.

“We acknowledge that there have been many problems involving guns that were registered and possessed legally by individuals [who then put them to illegal or inappropriate uses], ” he said.

He called on all members of the armed forces or civilian officials who have the right to carry a gun to register their weapons and commit to using them responsibly.
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/as ... n-cambodia

high-ranking military and govt officers and their kids seem to be the worst offenders
they should not be allowed to carry personally
if necessary, they should have non-reporting security people assigned who may be armed

^^^
Guns + Alcohol + Khmer + gold braid with attitude to match

It was never going to work - and the stats and the many OPs here prove it.
Time for a change in the regs.
Possible??

John Bingham wrote: ↑Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:15 am Most of the gun crimes here are either desperadoes from China or maniacs from the security forces who think its still the 1980s. They've been trying to clean up the latter for 25 years but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

Thanks JB, very very interesting.
1 point, re this statement. (just my impression, not sure how accurate it is)

That ^^ is almost certainly correct, But most gun murders these days appear (??) to be carried out by various high-ranking police, military and security officers.
- and mostly domestic or "personal" (shooting the guy in the duck shop line ahead of you etc)
That is not the same dynamic as the '80's security forces maniacs.

It is time for the Forces to realise they have a major issue with domestic violence by some their out-of-control gold braid boys. This is not gangsterism, it is very different and needs to be addressed differently.
??

what about the cleavers (+booze/meth)? they seem to be very popular these days.