No tape for cops’ guns in N. Mindanao

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— The top police officer in Northern Mindanao has ordered policemen not to seal their firearms’ muzzles during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, in an attempt to promote responsible gun use.

“The practice of muzzle-taping only shows the distrust of the organization to its very own policemen, such that we need to require unit commanders to put a tape around the muzzle [of their firearms],” Chief Supt. Noel Constantino, regional police director, said in a statement.

He said the police leadership today “trusts and treats every policeman as a responsible law enforcement officer and gun-holder who will not fire his firearms indiscriminately and will only fire it when it is extremely necessary to do so in the line of duty.” —JIGGER J. JERUSALEM