House Legal Committee vows to fix loopholes in gun control bill

AMMAN — There are an estimated 10 million firearms in the possession of Jordanians, Minister of Interior Salameh Hammad said on Sunday.

During a meeting with head of the Lower House's Legal Committee MP Abdul Monem Odat, the interior minister noted that the phenomenon of festive firing witnessed a decline after the Cabinet passed the 2016 weapons and ammunition bill, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of Justice Bassam Talhouni, Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Musa Maaytah, president of the Legislation and Opinion Bureau Fida Hamoud, Chief Legal Counsel at the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau Akram Obeidat and President of the Jordan Outdoor Sport Association Ramzi Handal.

Odat said that the bill, which drew mixed reactions from Jordanians, is still under discussion until a consensus is reached, adding that the legislation aims at regulating gun ownership rather than abolishing the right to bear arms.

The MP noted that the Lower House's Legal Committee is scheduled to develop a strategy to curb the proliferation of arms through a “gradual” approach, adding that the government has the right to impose gun control without infringing on people's rights.

Maaytah reaffirmed that the bill has no political motives behind it, adding that it was passed to ensure arms regulation and social stability.

For his part, Obeidat said that the problem lies in the "culture of violence" not in licensing guns, stressing that the bill targets people who are in possession of unlicensed guns, which make up only 10 per cent of gun owners.