Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s 2nd Standing Committee, said yesterday that the committee suggested to the government that it cancel the administrative regulation which requires gun shops to take out insurance.
Addressing a press briefing after yesterday’s closed-door meeting, Chan said the committee submitted a revised version of the weapons bill for the government to amend. The original bill proposes that gun shops are obliged to take out civil liability insurance for their business. However, according to Chan, government officials told the committee yesterday that according to the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) no insurance company is currently providing this kind of insurance, so the respective contents in the bill should therefore be removed.
Chan said that the committee added a gun-leasing regulation to its revised bill, according to which gun shops with the relevant licences would be allowed to provide leasing services to people who have an arms licence.
According to Chan, the committee yesterday also discussed the issue of relevant licences for sporting events, and changed “special licence for practising” in the previous version of the bill into “obtaining a specific permit”, meaning people aged above 15 are allowed to take part in shooting practice and participate in shooting sporting events as long as they are “permitted” to do so. Chan added that the committee will discuss the application process, the way of granting and the validity of this kind of permit in the upcoming committee meetings.
Chan said that the committee suggested weapons that are only meant for decorative purposes should be unopened or deactivated so as to ensure that they are unable to cause any injury, and they should only be kept at home.
Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo (right), who chairs the legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee, and the secretary of the committee, Lam Lon Wai, pose during a regular press briefing after the committee’s closed-door meeting yesterday. – Photo: Lisa Li Chi Mang
