Thai PM suspends firearm purchase licences after school shooting

BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Aug 11 suspended the issuance of permits to buy firearms and said existing licences would be reviewed, days after a 14-year-old gunman killed nine people.Anutin directed a deputy prime minister overseeing legal affairs to expedite a new gun control law, with stronger controls and significantly harsher penalties.The police were ordered to stop renewing permits that enable people to buy firearms.Registered firearms must be kept at home and cannot be carried in public, Anutin said, reiterating the current law.For illegal firearms, studies are under way to enact legislation requiring their return to the state within a specified period, he said.Last week, a teenage student killed six people and himself at a school outside Bangkok after fatally shooting his grandparents in the South-east Asian nation’s worst mass killing in nearly four years.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.The Education Minister proposed new school safety measures to Cabinet, including screening everyone who enters education premises for illegal objects and weapons. REUTERS