Philippine Police: New Year’s Eve with Muzzles Taped

Referencing Paladin’s December 15 blog entry on the topic of hazardous “celebratory gunfire,” readers rest assured we’re not making this up: according to a story in the London Daily Mail, to prevent Filipino police from participating in the traditional and unsafe practice of celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve, they actually had to go on duty with the muzzles of their handguns, rifles, and patrol shotguns securely taped over with white surgical tape.

They even had a formal “sealing of firearms” ceremony at the police headquarters in Camp Frame in Quezon City near Manila, where the officers paraded with their weapons’ muzzles securely taped over, with the tape signed by a senior officer to ensure it could not be removed and reapplied later. National Police officials cited the traditional celebratory gunfire during New Year’s revelry, which injures or kills a number of Filipinos each year, as the rationale for this procedure.