Myanmar Spring Chronicle – February 10 Scenes
MoeMaKa February 11 2023
The military council issued an amendment to the “Right to Arm Policy”
The military council made public a law that amended the “Right to Arm Policy” with a January 31 date public. In this law, which is said to be an amendment to the law issued in 1977, there are 2 types of firearms: those that can be carried with a license and those that are allowed to be carried with a permit. Licensed firearms are supposed to protect individual safety and in some areas, they belong to the group of hunting guns. The firearms that are carried with a permit are those belonging to groups such as rifles, and submachine guns, and are carried by pro-junta militia.
The “Right to Arm Policy” is not newly enacted and it is believed that the military council has now issued an amendment to the law to prevent the ward administrators, 100-house heads, former military officers, and those considered to be informers from being killed, which has been widespread after the military coup. Since hundreds of thousands of those suspected of being junta informers, ward administrators, village administrators, 100-house heads, 10-house heads, ex-military officers and veterans have been killed in the past 2 years, they seem to be trying to prevent the danger of assassinations by allowing them to carry weapons.
It should be said that this amended law is not a law that allows every citizen to protect his own security, like in some countries, but a law issued by the military council for a specific group of people. In recent years, journalists from the propaganda media supporting the military council have repeatedly asked about the issue of people who are important at the bottom of the administration of the military council, such as ward/village administrators and 100-house heads, and people from the rank of retired army sergeant to the rank of brigadier general, being assassinated and not being able to protect them. It should be said that it is not strange that the military council is not able to provide protection for individuals, as they are working desperately to protect the people currently working in the military, the police, police outposts, and even police stations.
Now, the law on the right to arms has been amended and issued, meaning that those in the administration, former military officers and veterans have the right to apply for a license and hold a pistol or non-automatic firearm.
It is not yet known how much this law will be able to fulfill their purpose and protect them in practice. It is not yet known whether those involved in lower-level administration or veterans will be issued with weapons. In other words, it appears to be intended to convey the message to urban guerrilla groups and local defense forces that their targets may have weapons.
Issuing the amendment to the law on the right to arms may lead to the expansion of Myanmar’s armed revolution. The situation is expected to deteriorate further with more armed people and more attacks in the coming year.
Another piece of news for today is that the CNF ethnic armed forces have retaken control of Thantlang town in Chin State, which has been abondoned by its residents for more than a year. These days, the CNF attacked and arrested some of the junta soldiers and police stationed at the police station in Thantlang town, and seized weapons and ammunition, according to news reports.
Thantlang town has been under military control for the past two years. The CNF ethnic armed group, which signed the NCA during the peace talks during the last U Thein Sein government, declared the NCA void after the military coup and clashed with the military council forces. The CNF’s strongest area or base is Thantlang, and before the arson of Thantlang, there were clashes between the military council troops and the CNF in those areas.
After more than a year, the CNF regained control of Thantlang, which was destroyed by fire, and it remains to be seen how the military council will respond.