ARMS OFFENCES (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading reed. 3.44 pm

Mr Chua Sian Chin: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

In my earlier speech, I have already discussed the rising crime situation and the need for enhanced penalties for certain offences which have caused the most concern and alarm to the public. So, Mr Speaker, Sir, I will not take very much time this time.

Enhanced punishment enacted by law has proved to be an effective deterrent against crime in the past. A good example is the Arms Offences Act introduced in 1974. The Act provides for, among other things, the death penalty for discharge of firearms in the commission of an offence and life imprisonment for having a firearm at the time of the commission of a scheduled offence. With the enactment of the Act, the number of firearm robberies dropped dramatically from 174 in 1973 to 3 in 1982.

However, in 1983, the number of firearm robberies increased to 18, with firearms being discharged in six of the cases. This increase does not, however, disprove the deterrent value of the enhanced punishment. Most of the criminals involved in these 18 cases belonged to gangs of foreign criminals who thought they could manage to elude arrest by making a quick exit from Singapore after the offence. Recent Police intelligence indicates that these foreign criminals have adopted new tactics to reduce the chances of being apprehended with firearms. They usually deposit their guns with associates in Singapore before and after the commission of an offence instead of bringing them in and out of the country and risking detection.

Presently, under section 3(1) of the Arms Offences Act, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and with not less than six strokes of the cane. This section has seldom been used in the past as most of the armed robbers were charged and punished for the more serious arms offences such as carrying a firearm in a robbery or for discharging a firearm, punishable with a mandatory life sentence and the death penalty respectively. In order to put across a message to the collaborators of armed robbers that a serious view is taken of their offences, the Arms Offences (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide for a minimum of five years' imprisonment for the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition and also for other offences under different subsections of section 3 of the Act. After all, it is what the offender thinks the penalty he will got rather than what is actually imposed that deters him from crime. This amendment will leave no doubts in his mind on what he will get.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - (Mr Chua Sian Chin].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.