Thailand suspends issuance of gun licenses until Dec 19, 2024

Traisulee Traisoranakul, deputy government spokesperson, said the directive was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday and went into effect on Wednesday.

The issuing of licences for firearms will be suspended until December 19, 2024.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the directive that was issued under the provisions of the 1947 Firearms Control Act, she said.

Traisulee added that the Interior Ministry was also drafting a bill to allow the owners of unlicensed firearms to register or hand them over to the authorities without penalties in a bid to minimise gun-related crimes.

Thailand has seen several fatal shooting sprees over the past few years, with the most recent being a 14-year-old turning a posh Bangkok mall into a killing field and a teacher losing her life to a stray bullet.