‘NOT TO CATCH THEM AS CRIMINALS’: Gun owners may face home inspection

By JORDAN DOMINGO

GUN owners in Bicol may face police inspections of their homes under a proposed nationwide measure aimed at preventing firearms from falling into the hands of children and being used in school shootings.

The proposal, if approved by both chambers of Congress and signed into law, would apply to registered firearm owners in the country.

For Bicol, the proposal comes as police continue their campaign against loose and illegally possessed firearms.

During the five-month election gun ban in 2025, Bicol police arrested 86 people and confiscated 92 firearms. Another 238 firearms were voluntarily surrendered, while 371 were deposited with police for safekeeping. Camarines Sur recorded 20 arrests, second-highest among the region's six provinces.

Earlier, the Police Regional Office 5 reported that 965 loose firearms had been seized, confiscated or recovered in Bicol from December 2023 to November 2024.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla raised the proposal about home inspections amid growing concern over violence in schools, particularly following two fatal school shootings in the country in less than two months.

The first occurred on June 22 at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, where three students were killed and several others were injured. The second happened on Aug. 18 at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School in Zamboanga City, where two students died, including the suspected student shooter.

The incidents have triggered renewed scrutiny of how minors are able to gain access to firearms legally owned or issued to adults.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) recorded at least 50 school-related incidents involving children in conflict with the law from June 16 to Aug. 19, according to data released by its Public Information Office.

The incidents included 26 alleged bomb threats, 12 alleged shooting threats, four stabbing incidents, 4 arrests for illegal possession of firearms, two death threats and 2 actual shooting incidents.

It was against this backdrop that Remulla proposed allowing police officers to inspect the homes of registered gun owners to check whether their firearms are properly and securely stored.

Remulla made the proposal during a House of Representatives appropriations committee hearing on the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s 2027 budget, where he urged Congress to amend existing gun regulations.

Under his proposal, the inspections would not be conducted through search warrants. Instead, gun owners would sign a waiver allowing police to inspect their homes with at least one day's notice.

“We do not mean to catch them as criminals,” Remulla said, explaining that the objective is to ensure that firearms are safely stored and that gun owners have proper facilities for their safekeeping.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said the proposal would be carefully studied and subjected to consultations with gun owners and other stakeholders.

He said the PNP would have to consider concerns over privacy and the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches, particularly because the proposal involves entering private homes.

Nartatez also said any implementation would require clear procedures and safeguards for both gun owners and police officers and must remain within existing laws.

The proposed home inspections, however, could face a legal challenge.

The Supreme Court, in a 2019 ruling, held that the PNP’s authority to regulate firearms does not override the constitutional protection of the home. It ruled that police cannot conduct inspections of firearm-license applicants’ homes without a search warrant.

Remulla acknowledged the ruling, saying the proposal would be brought before Congress and possibly the Supreme Court to determine whether home inspections could be allowed when gun owners have given consent and received advance notice.

Republic Act No. 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, assigns the PNP, particularly its Firearms and Explosives Office, the responsibility of overseeing firearm registration and licensing.

For Bicol gun owners, the proposal remains subject to study and possible legislative action. But if approved, the proposed home checks would be a nationwide policy covering registered firearm owners.