Many woke up today to be greeted with the chilling news of a man attempting to assassinate his wife at KLIA 1’s arrival hall by shooting her. While the bullet did not hit her, it did severely injure her bodyguard.
Many questioned how is it that Malaysia, a country that prides itself on strict gun control where citizens like you and me can’t own firearms possess one??
Can Malaysians actually own guns?
The short answer is YES – as long you own a gun license.
BUTTTT, it’s a very tedious and lengthy process with documents and approvals in between. In fact, Malaysia prides itself as having one of the world’s strongest gun control laws!
In a ‘Ask Me Anything’ on reddit, a Malaysian who possesses a gun license shares that obtaining the permit is extremely difficult.
First, a thorough background check is done.
- You should not have any past criminal records nor gangster relations
- Family members of yours must also be squeaky clean
- You must be mentally stable
- If you have a drinking and gambling habit, it’ll decrease your chances of approval
Guns are owned by the company, not you personally
The application forms also would require company documents, endorsement from the director and so on. You’re only permitted to carry or use it, but not own it.
He mentioned that jobs are an important factor for a reason you carry a gun. Such as farmer, body guard, VIP, legal hunter etc.
If you don’t have these type of jobs that give a strong reason for you to own one, there’s no chance that you’ll get the permit.
He also added that you’ll:
- Need to undergo shooting test every year. Just fire one or two shots with your gun at their gun range.
- Need to return some used gun shells to police station to prove you have used them before you can buy new bullets.
- Need to have the signature of the head of your local police station in your form every time you want to buy new bullets, otherwise the gun store won’t sell you any bullets.
- The gun store will also only sell you the allocated amount stated in your approval form. No more no less.
As to how this shooter husband obtained it, he likely has a license as a VIP or a simpler way – buying an illegal firearm. Of course, at this point, these are purely speculative.
In fact, it’s been a long-standing ordeal that Malaysia is facing where illegal firearms are smuggled into the country via the Thailand border.
Sungai Golok police chief had previously said that the smuggled guns are mostly used by those involved in drug smuggling activities.
He added that local criminals would be the ones who smuggled them in and buyers of these weapons are users in Malaysia.
Also read: BREAKING: Man Tries To Kill Wife by Shooting Her in KLIA
