BY: ERMIZI MUHAMAD
SHAH ALAM, FEB 22: The Federal Government has failed to provide the actual statistics on violence involving firearms in this country, claimed Kulai Member of Parliament (MP), Teo Nie Ching.
He said the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi gave conflicting statements on the case in Parliament on November 8 and 15.
“According to a written Parliamentary reply by Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on November 15 last year, there were 249 incidents of violence involving firearms between 2014 and 2016.
“The breakdown consisted of a total of 105 murders, 117 attempted murders and 27 cases of armed robbery. Meanwhile, only 122 of the 249 cases are resolved so far, which is 49% of the total cases,” he said in a statement.
However, he said, referring to a separate answer on November 8, that number is not accurate for the first nine months of 2016.
“Cases of violence involving firearms were reported as 24 murder cases, 27 attempted murder and 31 armed-robbery.
“If they are 31 armed-robbery reported in January to September 2016, how is it possible that there are only 27 armed-robbery cases between 2014 and September 2016?
“Within a short period of one week, Ahmad Zahid gave two conflicting replies, reflecting the lack of transparency in this matter,” he said in a statement.
He said that in response to public concerns over the incident involving a woman killed with firearm in Penang yesterday.
In the 5.45 pm incident, the victim was driving along Jalan Pekaka 1 towards Jalan Gambir when two men on motorbikes approached her BMW and fired ten shots.
What is the actual firearm-violence statistic in Malaysia?
