The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments adding a penalty of at least seven years in prison for discharging a firearm in public.
The amendments to the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) state that in addition to jail time, a person who fires a gun in public could be fined up to NT$15 million (US$479,019).
The change, proposed by the Ministry of the Interior, follows police seizures of new kinds of modified guns that have been involved in incidents that resulted in casualties.
Photo:CNA
Prior to the amendments, firing any kind of gun in public was not treated as a criminal offense under the Criminal Code.
A provision in Article 63 of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) treated “firing a weapon without justifiable reasons in public” as a crime, but only carried a penalty of no more than three days in prison or a fine up to NT$30,000.
The revised law regulates all types of firearms, ammunition and related equipment to enhance the traceability of nonstandard firearms, the ministry said.
Public use of a nonstandard firearm comes with a jail sentence of five to 12 years and a fine of up to NT$10 million.
Those who manufacture, sell, transport or transfer replica guns could face a sentence of up to seven years in jail and a fine of up to NT$7 million, while those who manufacture, sell or transport parts for replica firearms without approval could be fined NT$1 million to NT$10 million.
If the offense is serious, the seller could be ordered to suspend or terminate their operations, the bill says.
Nonstandard guns are considered firearms that are produced by factories not licensed by the government, and include modified guns.
Replica guns are defined as devices resembling a real firearm in terms of its exterior, structure and materials used to produce it, and could be altered to fire like a real gun.
The amendments also revise a provision stipulating that people who contravene the law, but surrender with all of their firearms, ammunition and knives “may” have their penalties reduced or exempted.
Previously, the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act stated that individuals surrendering their firearm “shall” have their penalties reduced or exempted.
Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) yesterday said the amendment aimed to curb the circulation of nonstandard weapons, including modified and replica firearms, and stiffen penalties.
About 90 percent of the illegal weapons seized by police this year had been modified, Lin said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS