LEGAL ISSUES REGARDING THE USE OF FIREARMS

Abstract

Legal issues regarding firearms in Thailand often relate to licensing controls, such as a lack of qualifications checks for applicants, lack of strict gun storage and transfer measures, unreasonable carrying of firearms in public places, lack of recordkeeping of key information such as bullets and casings, and the control of improvised firearms and firearm replicas that are easily accessible via the internet. Firearms are often used as tools in crime, leading the state to consider controlling firearms among citizens through legislation. There are two approaches to gun control: 1. Strict gun control, based on the idea that if citizens do not own firearms, crime will decrease or even disappear. Therefore, citizens should be prohibited from owning firearms. 2. Liberal gun control, based on the idea that prohibiting the ownership of firearms infringes on the rights and freedoms citizens have to protect themselves and their property. When the state cannot provide protection, citizens should be allowed to own firearms. Therefore, it is necessary to apply this approach to gun control in Thailand, which is governed by the Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearms Act of 1947, to effectively control firearm use.