American Arrested-Bragging Carrying A Gun

[Jollygoodfellow]

Drinking, bragging and plain foolishness gets you in trouble.

 

US man arrested in Philippines for carrying gun

 

 

DIPOLOG CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 4, 2013) – Philippine authorities detained an American citizen for possessing an unlicensed pistol in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte, officials said Thursday.

 

Officials said policemen arrested Jeffrey Roy Bradley, 57, while drinking with his Filipino friends in downtown Sindangan following a tip off from a civilian that the foreigner had a pistol under his shirt. 

 

Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, a regional police spokesman, said Bradley even bragged his .45 caliber pistol to his friends while drinking at the MPL Plaza. 

 

He said police also seized from Bradley one pistol magazine and seven bullets. 

 

“The policemen approached the foreigner and frisked him and he yielded a .45-caliber pistol with a defaced serial number, and one magazine loaded with seven rounds of ammunition,” Huesca said. “He failed to present proper documents to possess and carry the firearm, hence, he was arrested.”

 

He said Bradley is temporarily residing in the village of Goleo in the town of Sindangan and now detained in the municipal police station while awaiting charges. Police did not say where Bradley got his weapon or why was he carrying the gun. 

 

No other details were made available by the police about Bradley or whether his stay in the country is legal or not. The US Embassy has not release any statement about Bradley’s arrest. (Mindanao Examiner)

 

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20130904102251

[robert k]

If it's accurate, I hope he gets deported. How unutterably charming. :) 

[Bruce]

Drinking and bragging about a gun is never a good thing... But... it is Zamboanga and he is a foreigner with a target on his back. So I can see the need for a M60 machine gun, but that is really too heavy. :dance:

 

I think that he has an affirmative defense for mental illness or defect. After all he is an AMERICAN in ZAMBOANGA, therefore, must be suffering from some mental issues as there is nothing in Zamboanga worth having that you can not get in a more northern province.

 

I rest my case. :cheersty:

[JJReyes]

A good lawyer can arrange for deportation since the only crime committed is carrying an unlicensed concealed firearm. A lawyer will reason the guy was afraid for this life. It is not a good excuse, but acceptable. The insanity defense is not necessary. 

[robert k]

I like to make the most of the material at hand, if he is going to be deported, where is the absolute best place to deport this fellow to? My vote is North Korea. :)

[JJReyes]

I like to make the most of the material at hand, if he is going to be deported, where is the absolute best place to deport this fellow to? My vote is North Korea.

 

I would also vote to get Dennis Rodman deported to North Korea, but that will get me off topic.

 

Instead of purchasing a gun to show off, he could have hired a bodyguard licensed to carry a firearm. Assuming a large enough budget, he could have felt even more important by hiring multiple bodyguards. 

[Mike J]

Why in the world would anyone want to live where they felt it necessary to carry a firearm to be safe?  Am I missing something??? :th_hu:

[Bruce]

Why in the world would anyone want to live where they felt it necessary to carry a firearm to be safe?  Am I missing something??? :th_hu:

 

Welcome to the greater Ft. Lauderdale area....... A license to carry state since July 1987. Over 1.5 million licenses have been issued but at any one time maybe only 500,000++ are active. Marion Hammer is license #1. My attorney is in the 200 range and I am in the 5,000 range with mine issued in December of 1987.  

 

It is not so much of feeling safe, but more of being prepared. The US Supreme Court has held that the police have NO DUTY to protect you (or anyone) and that you are ON YOUR OWN until the police show up. You got a spare tire? A jack? You keep ibuprofen in the med cabinet? Good. Have a gun around just in case to be further prepared.  

 

To really make you understand, there was a recent court decision in New York where there was a madman on the subway stabbing people. One victim was a martial arts instructor who was cornered and had to defend himself as best he could. He did ok and while stabbed, he survived. He sued the City of New York because there was 2 transit police officers who HID in a engineer's compartment and locked the door until more police arrived. The court threw out his lawsuit saying that the police had NO DUTY to protect him....... Sadly, Bernie Goetz was not on that train :th_unfair: .  

 

While the violent drug related crimes are high here from robbery to home invasion to car jacking, actual kidnappings are not frequent like in Zamboanga or Colombia (Hi Curley).

 

The difference for most of us is that 'we' are living in the US in an area where there is higher crime rates. The Broward County jail has about 5,000 people in jail at any one time. We just can not move away that easily due to work or family.

 

However, for those of us thinking of vacationing in, or moving to, the Philippines :dance: , WE HAVE MORE OF A CHOICE! There are ample published reports and travel advisories for us to stay OUT of southern Mindanao. Really. You do internet dating? Great... simply set the filters to not meet anyone from Mindanao. There is nothing in southern Mindanao that you can not find in a northern province. Except maybe crocs.

 

Yes there is crime in other areas of the Philippines, but in Mindanao, there is a greater chance. Sure there are those expats who have lived there for years. These are the guys with guns in the house, bodyguards (businessmen), travel a different route each day and make an effort to not be a victim. :thumbsup:

[Markham]

However, for those of us thinking of vacationing in, or moving to, the Philippines :dance: , WE HAVE MORE OF A CHOICE! There are ample published reports and travel advisories for us to stay OUT of southern Mindanao. Really. You do internet dating? Great... simply set the filters to not meet anyone from Mindanao. There is nothing in southern Mindanao that you can not find in a northern province. Except maybe crocs.

 

There you go again with your generalisations. Why not tell everyone to stay out of Mindanao, since the whole island is reckoned by your State Department to be unsafe - or better yet, stay out of the country.

:wt-hell:

[Bruce]

 

However, for those of us thinking of vacationing in, or moving to, the Philippines :dance: , WE HAVE MORE OF A CHOICE! There are ample published reports and travel advisories for us to stay OUT of southern Mindanao. Really. You do internet dating? Great... simply set the filters to not meet anyone from Mindanao. There is nothing in southern Mindanao that you can not find in a northern province. Except maybe crocs.

 

There you go again with your generalisations. Why not tell everyone to stay out of Mindanao, since the whole island is reckoned by your State Department to be unsafe - or better yet, stay out of the country.

:wt-hell:

 

 

I understand you have fond memories of your past 30 years living in a non Christian country. But things have changed. Drastically. It is not 'me' but it is multiple countries issuing advisories to stay away from (at first) southern Mindanao / Zamboanga. If any reader pays attention and does some google searching on the political situation and potential for violence and foreigner related crime and violence, there are enough independent articles and reports to get the message across that Mindanao is NOT the same as Cebu!

 

While there is sporadic violence in other parts of the Philippines, I believe that if you add up all those incidents of violence, collectively, they do not add up to the amount of expat related violence that is found on Mindanao. One main difference is that in the rest of the Philippines, you may get robbed, just like in your home country. But on Mindanao, not only is there the usual crimes to note (same as in your home country) but also the added issues of long term kidnapping AND the local police are in on it! :th_unfair:  NOT like your home country or the rest of the Philippines!   

 

The news article that was posted in the OP was about a foreigner carrying a gun. While drinking and bragging about his gun may not have been a smart move, he was not seen waving it around or acting foolish. In reality, he may have been simply telling his drinking friends that he was prepared IF he was to be the potential victim of a kidnapping.

 

Common Sense...... One of the main points of this forum is to get more people involved in traveling to or moving to the Philippines. While there is an argument to be made that 'people are stupid' :hystery: There is also the argument to be made that 'people are NOT stupid'. Following the point that people are not stupid....

 

Anyone can read or hear about the Philippines and MIILF and Abu Sayef and other groups and the kidnappings of foreigners. That and that alone is a warning to stay out of the Philippines.  But 'we' know that while true, it is more of an issue focused on Mindanao and NOT the entire Philippines. So in the point of pushing the Philippines as a travel or retirement destination, I try to acknowledge the issues and concerns that foreigners may have and at the same time, while not down playing that part, I try to direct foreigners to the many other parts of the Philippines that do not have the issues of Mindanao.

 

In the past, there have been posts about someone asking 'I am coming for the 1st time, where should I go". Forum members who like beaches, reply about swimming and beach areas. members reply about motorcycle touring, cave exploring, culture tours and a whole lot of other stuff that can be done without going to Mindanao and adding in the drama of being a kidnapping victim the farther south you travel.  

 

I believe that the actual # of expats living on the southern end of Mindanao is dropping. Dropping due to safety concerns and expats moving north and dropping due to future expats striking off Mindanao as a possible destination. Using you and your memories, Markham, look at the violence on Mindanao 30 years ago up to today and then extrapolate that out 10 years. 20 years... where do you see this going?

 

That one American on Zamboanga got caught with a gun. I think that there are many many others who simply are cautions about their safety and simply have not gotten caught.

 

So guys... while we cannot and should not ignore the crime issues of southern Mindanao (moving north) we should not let those issues stop other expats from traveling to or moving to the REST of the Philippines. Positive Public Relations......... After all It Is More Fun In The Philippines! :tiphat: