Laws on personal protection in Singapore

SilverPal SG

"The laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are
neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Can it be supposed that
those who have the courage to violate the most sacred laws of humanity...will
respect the less important and arbitrary ones... Such laws make things worse
for the assaulted and better for the assailants, they serve rather to
encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with
greater confidence than an armed man."

~Thomas Jefferson, quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria in "On
Crimes and Punishment."

Comments?

goh meng seng SG

There is a difference between a small place like Singapore and a large country like USA.

There is definitely a trade off between civil liberty and the law that bans guns. Two spectrum of considertaions. To ban guns is to prevent small disputes between individuals turning into dangerous gun fights that may hurt innocents as well. Even in Singapore now, small disputes could turn into big fights creating casualties. The second consideration is to preven small arms to be used by robbers or any syndicates to commit crimes. Laws banning guns would probably be effective in achieving the first objective, but there is a trade off in the second; those victims of criminals would not be able to protect themselves against these criminals effectively.

For a big country like USA, there are people who live in isolated farms or ulu ulu places. Unlike in city areas, police officers could not reach you within minutes of call for help. Thus, personal defence and safety has to fall on each individuals. Having a gun could even out the odds against robbers. This is true.

However, in Singapore's context, we live in a ver compact style. With such density of residential population, pschological and physical stress may result in more frictions among the population. Thus, banning guns would be the wiser move. Even if criminals possess guns, it is not easy to escape from their crime scenes in such a compact city. You go bang bang, the whole neighbourhood will know. Unlike in USA, if you go bang bang in the ulu ulu place, nobody knows.

The harsh law on gun possession definitely has its effects on criminals. Criminals are not stupid people. If money is what they are after, no need to use gun that could endanger their own life if they get caught.

This has explained why there are less crimes committed with guns in Singapore, though we cannot completely eradicate the possibility.

However, in the context of a terrorist threat, the ground rules might have changed. It is not money that they are after but innocent lives and blood that they are after. Thus, the odds against the potential victims will increase. Whether releasing the rules on guns possession will help, is yet to be examined.

Goh Meng Seng

SilverPal SG

I agree with you on the gun laws. I hate guns and I feel they should not be allowed to be kept by members of the public.

I have had my life threatened by a certain person before. He is twice my size and many many times stronger. I am unable to report him to the police because he used a third party to convey his threats to me. For me to make this a police case will cause the third party to be implicated as well. So, now without the protection of the police, how am I to assure my safety?

FYI, I have practised martial arts before and I feel that I am too small sized to keep someone so many times bigger from hurting me.

chunyong SG

even with guns, we may be futile agaisnt the terrorists who always use carbombs and other IWOMD (Inprovised Weapons of Mass Destruction)....if we cannot ID them out, we cannot really defend ourselves against them effectively....Ming Qiang yi dang, an jian nan fang... hope we can eradicate them AMAP and ASAP.... Evil or Very Mad

SilverPal SG

Other than having good information about them and taking pre-emtive action against known extremists, I really dun think there is anything we can do about them.

Any guy can bring a car bomb into any commercial building in Singapore.

SilverPal SG

"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we
shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom? Congress shall have no
power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement
of the soldier, are the birthright of an American ... The unlimited power of
the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but
where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the People."
~Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.

The quote is a bit too extreme and if taken on its own, I am bound to disagree.

To put it in perspective, our boys are already so soft and furthermore lack the familiarity with any form of weapons other than those that are taught to us in NS. When it comes down to the crunch, I expect our soldiers to be fumbling with their empty rifles rather than throwing it down and taking out a parang or bayonet and killing the enemy.

The enemy could have grown up killing chickens, climbing trees and fighting behind the kampong field. They are tougher than us and more willing to get their hands dirty than us.

chunyong SG

hmmmmm, it is really scary loh, just imagine someone with a bomb in his car, drive into an underground carpark of a business building.....

there is only so much we can do....sigh, pray hard nothing happens. Wink

RuffRider SG

I think the main threat we fear is that of terrorist. However, terrorist are normal people with an objective, unlike the insane, who kill at random. I believe that, if Singapore were to be more careful at how we present ourselves to the world, the threat of "carbombs" and attacks would cease to exist. Many governements love scaring its people into believing there are threats imminent and unpredictable. It is a good way to psychologically control the way the people act and think, especially towards election dates. But let us not be fooled.

With respect to laws on personal protection, i do not believe it is in Singapore's best interest to allow guns to be privately owned. It has worked well for us for many years, and i hope it would continue on. If one is distressed due to fear or threat of injury or death, the logical solution is to lodge a police report. That is their job, so allow them to do it. We have to help them, to help us. Even if nothing comes about due to lack of evidence and probability, at least it has been laid down on paper for future reference. It would be useful if something actually happens to u.