Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ?on Tuesday suspended the issuance of permits ?to buy firearms and existing licences would be reviewed, days after a 14-year-old gunman killed nine people.
Mr Anutin directed Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt, who oversees legal affairs, ?to ?expedite a new gun control law, with stronger controls and significantly harsher penalties. A new bill is to be proposed within 60 days.
Police have been ordered stop renewing permits that enable people to buy firearms. Registered firearms must be kept at home and ?cannot be carried in public, Mr Anutin said, reiterating the current law.
He warned people not to believe claims that guns could be carried for self-defence, saying firearms often end up harming their owners.
The cabinet on Tuesday ordered urgent and long-term measures to strengthen controls on illegal firearms and close loopholes that allow guns to reach unauthorised users.
The Interior Ministry and Royal Thai Police have been ordered to suspend renewals of Por 3, Por 4 and Por 12 licences, until the cabinet decides otherwise, government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said.
‘Welfare guns’ suspended
As well, new ‘welfare gun’ schemes will be suspended. The widely criticised programme allows eligible public officials – from village headmen to judges and politicians – to obtain weapons at steep discounts. Many of these guns end up being resold.
Between 2017 and 2020, the US-based manufacturer Sig Sauer secured two contracts to supply the Royal Thai Police with a total of 400,000 firearms, many of which were intended as welfare guns. The Interior Ministry, which Mr Anutin heads, has also been a major participant in the welfare gun programme.
Other urgent measures approved by the cabinet call for auditing of gun dealers’ sales against licences and tax records; inspecting ammunition at shooting ranges; and intensifying prosecutions, with courts asked to impose severe penalties.
Long-term measures include introducing real-time electronic licensing and transaction records linked to the Customs and Revenue departments, recording firearm identities, tightening controls on dealers and increasing penalties.
School tragedy
Last week, a teenage student killed six people and ?himself at Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi after fatally shooting his grandparents in the country’s ?worst ?mass killing in nearly four years.
The 9mm handgun used in the school attack was legally registered to the 14-year-old gunman’s grandfather. A CZ75 9mm semi-automatic pistol, it is a popular weapon in Thailand and many are purchased by the government for its welfare gun programme.
On Monday, a former Nonthaburi MP shot to death the head of the provincial administrative organisation, a former policeman, apparently in a dispute over a debt.
Chalong Riewraeng was charged on Tuesday with premeditated murder and other serious offences in the slaying of Pol Col Thongchai Yenprasert.
Thailand had an estimated 10.3 million ?firearms in civilian possession, equating to around 15 guns per 100 residents, the highest rate in the region by a ?wide margin, according to a 2017 estimate ?by the Small Arms Survey.
Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong, meanwhile, has proposed new school safety measures to cabinet, including screening everyone who education premises for ?illegal objects and ?weapons.