PROGUN

PROGUN is a firearms advocacy group based in the Philippines. The organization's name stands for "Peaceful Responsible Owners of Guns". It was founded in 1987[1] to make it easier for Filipino citizens to own and carry firearms. Although it started off as a non-political group, it became heavily involved in political lobbying and advocacy after a long period of inactivity during the early 2000s.

PROGUN
MottoPeaceful responsible owners of guns
Formation1987
TypeShooting sports and gun advocacy
Websiteprogun.ph

Political lobbying

From around 2009, PROGUN involved itself with political campaigns to protect firearms rights for Filipinos. Most notably, these included:

  • opposition [2] to the House Bill No. 6776 [3] firearms control bill (filed on October 19, 2009);
  • opposition to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Versoza's proposal in 2010 to put in place an extended gun ban throughout the country.[4]

2010 Election Gun Ban Statistics Project

As part of its efforts to block the extended gun ban, PROGUN volunteers started a Gun Ban Statistics Project to record violent crimes during the 2010 Philippine Election gun ban. The projects goal was to challenge the official PNP's claims[5] that the ban put in place during the 2010 elections was successful and therefore should be extended permanently.

As of 9 June 2010, the project recorded 429 incidents in which there were 359 injuries and 566 fatalities.[6]

Organizational structure

In line with Philippine law, PROGUN is governed by a board of 15 directors. After the resignation of Chairman Mike Melchor [7] in June 2010, leadership was taken up by President, Atty. JJ D. Mendoza, and Secretary-General, Atty. Ticky Tabujara.

The organization's membership is made up of 15,000 card-carrying members but it also claims to enjoy the support of 1.2 million 'sympathetic' licensed gun owners throughout the Philippines.[8]

Relations with other organizations

At its inception, PROGUN was funded by the Association of Firearms & Ammunition Dealers of the Philippines, Inc. (AFAD).[9] However, disagreements in approach to lobbying caused the two organizations to drift apart during the first decade of 2000. In 2010, AFAD backed the launch[10] of a new firearms group, The A2S5 Coalition, which was formed to oppose the extension of the 2010 election gun ban.[4]

During the Philippine National Police Gun Summit in June 2010, a previously unknown organization called "Total Pro-Gun Confederation" was selected to speak on behalf of the Philippine Firearms community. Its designated representative, Mr. Christopher Punla, gave a controversial speech [11] which appeared to mock the firearms community. PROGUN later issued a statement denying any connection with the "Total Pro-Gun Confederation", saying that it used the 'PROGUN' registered trademark "without license or authority".[12]

See also

References
  1. "About PROGUN". Archived from the original on 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  2. "PROGUN Position Paper on House Bill No. 6776". Archived from the original on 2011-08-25. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  3. 14th Congress House Bill No. 6776
  4. Philippine Daily Inquirer: PNP wants gun ban extended Archived 2010-06-01 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Zamboanga Times: PNP mulls over clamor to extend firearm ban
  6. PROGUN 2010 Election gun ban statistics project
  7. PROGUN CHAIRMAN RESIGNS!
  8. The Philippine Star: Gun owners' group asks PNP to reconsider gun ban extension
  9. AFAD website
  10. The Philippine Star: Coalition launched to oppose gun ban
  11. Philippine Daily Inquirer: 7 of 10 Metro folk favor gun ban extension Archived 2010-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Progun Disavows "Total Progun" and Perry Punla
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