PHILIPPINE National Police chief Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome yesterday called for tougher gun control laws and stepped-up police security checks in the streets in the wake of  the killings of a national shooter and a Korean businessman in Metro Manila.

Last Sunday, three men armed with an Uzi machine pistol and semi-automatic pistols shot dead Michael Lontoc, a 30-year-old Philippine practical shooting team member outside a firing range in Malabon City. Lontoc suffered two gunshot wounds in the body and died on the spot.

Around 8:30 a.m. yesterday, one of two motorcycle-riding gunmen shot and killed 59-year-old Korean businessman Hur Hyung outside the UC Coffee Shop along Connecticut Street in Greenhills, San Juan.

San Juan City Police Office chief Senior Supt. Rainier Espina said the victim was on board his black Ford Expedition (HUR 33) when killed. Hur’s Filipino driver suffered cuts in the body after being hit by shattered window glass. Espina said the motive and identities of the assassins are still being investigated.

Following the killings, Gen. Bartolome asked anew lawmakers to pass tougher gun control measures that will add more teeth to existing laws that penalizes illegal possession of firearms and ammunition to help arrest gun-related killings in the country and help keep the streets safe.

Bartolome said that if approved, the Firearms Bill will reduce if not totally eradicate the presence of loose firearms in the country apart from having a society of responsible gun holders who will register their firearms regularly. Bartolome also emphasized the need to establish an effective gun control program in the country coupled with their crackdown against loose weapons that started shortly after the Final Firearms Amnesty Program ended last year.

Bartolome said tougher gun laws will indeed give law enforcers stronger legal foundation to act decisively and enforce the full might of the law against persons sporting loose firearms, specifically those engaged in criminal activities. The PNP chief said to keep the streets safe, police nationwide are enforcing checkpoints to arrest the movement of persons carrying guns, explosives and other deadly weapons.