Congress ratifies bicam report on bill extending validity of firearm licenses

Police present the unlicensed firearms and illegal drugs they seized during a three-day police operation in Cebu in February 2020. (File photo by DALE ISRAEL / Inquirer Visayas)

MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking to extend the validity of all types of licenses to possess firearms and ammunition gets another step closer to becoming a law after the Senate and the House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference report of the measure.

During their respective sessions, both chambers of Congress ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill No. 1155 and House Bill No. 10610.

This means that the measure now only needs the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte for it to become a law.

Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said that the measure would extend the validity of the license to possess firearms and ammunition from two years to five or ten years, amending the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act (Republic Act No. 10591).

Under the measure, all licenses to possess a firearm, regardless of type or classification, will be renewed every five or 10 years, at the option of the licensee, which shall be reckoned from the birthdate of the licensee, unless sooner suspended or revoked.

The measure likewise states that license to carry firearms outside of residence or place of business will only be valid for two years from the date of the approval of the application, unless sooner suspended or revoked.

The amended measure now includes elected incumbent and former officials as well as active and retired military and law enforcement personnel to be exempted from the requirement of a threat assessment certificate.

READ: House OKs bill setting validity of firearm license, registration to five to 10 years

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