Gun politics in Indonesia (Right to Bear Arms)

Gun politics in Indonesia have generally liberal laws compared to the rest of Asian countries. Indonesia, along with Taiwan and Japan rates among one of the highest-gun owning nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the post-Suharto era, Indonesian politicians have generally embraced gun ownership - especially those who belong to the Indonesian Democratic Party. However, the political and secterian violences have caused some concern and call for reforms in Indonesian firearms legislations. Islamist parties for example embrace gun ownership only for Muslims, and have called for the disarming of all non-Muslims in Indonesia.

During the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri, firearms became more accessible to Indonesians with age of 18 or over, so long as they live in stable conditions.

History
Suharto was generally against civilian ownership of firearms, and led a crack-down of firearms confiscations in Indonesia. After Suharto's resignations, many politicians became embracing gun ownership in order to protect property from looters and mobbers.

President Abdurrahman Wahid stated his support for citizens of Indonesia, especially Chinese-Indonesians to take up arms as a result of the 1998 May race riots in which native Javanese and Malay population looted and destroyed Chinese property. Wahid was known to arm Chinese Indonesians and train them in rifle marksmanship. This caused the impeachment of Wahid who was accused of political corruption.

Firearms ownership was eased for Indonesian citizens during the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri of the Democratic Party, who supported firearms ownership for economically-able Indonesian citizens.

As a result of the 2002 Bali bombings by Jemaah Islamiyah militants, the Indonesian government passed the 2002 Law, which stated that, "Every able and stable Indonesian citizen has the right to take up arms against all harm to life and property."

In fears of looting of gun stores, the Indonesian government rather set up an online military and police-owned store where citizens can order firearms.

Islamist political parties led by Hamzah Haz feared that this would encourge non-Muslims to take up arms and overthrow Islam in Indonesia. Jemaah Islamiyah and other Islamists in Indonesia have stated that only Muslims have the right to bear arms, and that all non-Muslims must be unarmed, disarmed and be under the control of Muslims.

Sheikh Abdullah Ehab, a radical Muslim activist did a sermon in the city of Indramayu stating for the disarming of non-Muslims.

He stated, "The dhimmi (non-Muslim) and the kafir (non-believer) must be disarmed. They must not have any ability to rebel against the God-given authority of their Muslim superiors. They are like cattle, to be pelted and beaten, to discourage them from practicing their religion of falsehoods."

The Indonesian military issued a warning to Ehab, stating that if he continued his threats against non-Muslims, his firearms would become confiscated.

He issued another speech, stating that Muslims should mob Christians and take their guns.

"We at the moment, have more than them, and that should buy us time. We need to find out where the Christians live, ask them if they own a gun. Then we should mob their houses, many of us will die in the process in the hands of bullets, but there's hundreds of us and only a few bullets.

A mix of Indonesian Peacekeepers Units, and National Police forces were sent to Indramayu to confiscate Ehab's firearms. They met subsequent resistance from supporters of Ehab, Ehab was nowhere to be found and his firearms cabinets had been empty.

Current law
====Under the current law, Indonesians who wish to purchase firearms must apply for a Firearms Authorization Identification. This can be either issued by local police, Indonesian National Police or the armed forces.====

Under this law, the requirements must be that:


 * the citizen is 18 years or older


 * is economically able and/or lives in a stable home and environment


 * must not have connections or ties to radical groups


 * lives in a legally-recognized Indonesian address