Philippine Police Won’t Tape Their Guns Today

Today, on New Year’s Eve, police in the Philippines won’t have the muzzles of their guns taped.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) decided to do away with the tradition of the gun taping this year. The idea was to prevent the police officers from ringing in the New Year with celebratory gun fire. The police argued that the tradition really wasn’t a deterrent and it could prevent them from hunting down gun suspects. This I don’t believe…if the gun is taped and you need to use it while you’re hunting down a drug suspect, just use it.

There has been a war on drugs going on in the Philippines for quite a while now. National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Oscar Albayalde said PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa decided the gun taping did not need to continue because the police force is more disciplined under his leadership. He said the Philippine gun taping was just for show.

Despite the ban on gun taping, Philippine police officers are still not allowed to randomly fire their guns. If they are caught randomly firing their gun to celebrate Christmas or New Year’s Eve, they would be immediately dismissed.

Associated Press photo by Aaron Favila.