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CHAPTER III Legal Definition under Article I, Section 3, Republic Act 10591

Firearm – refers to any handheld or portable weapon, whether a small arm or

CLASSIFICATION OF FIREARMS light weapon, that expels or is designed to expel a bullet, shot, slug,
missile, or any projectile, which is discharged by means of
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this chapter the learners should be able to: expansive force of gases from burning gunpowder or other form of
combustion or any similar instrument or implement. For the
purposes of this Act, the barrel, frame, or receiver is considered a
1. Know the Classification of firearms
firearm.
2. Learn the Legal Definition of Firearms
3. Know the Technical Definition of Firearms
Legal Definition under Section 877 of the Revised Administrative Code as well
4. Know the other Definition of Firearms
as in Section 290 of the National Internal Revenue Code of the Philippines.
5. Identify the minor parts of Firearms
6. Learn the Types of Firearms
Firearms or Arms – are herein used, includes, rifles, muskets, carbines,
7. Familiarized the Common types of Firearms
shotguns, pistols, revolvers, and all other deadly weapons from
8. Know the other types of Firearms
which bullets, ball, shots, shells, or other missiles may be
discharged by means of gunpowder or other explosives. This term
also includes air rifles except such as being of small caliber and of
Firearms Defined limited range and used as toys. The barrel of any firearm shall be
considered a complete firearm for all purposes hereof.
On May 29, 2013, Republic Act 10591, otherwise known as the
“Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act” was enacted. It is Technical Definition of Firearms
a comprehensive law regulating the ownership, possession, carrying,
manufacture, dealing in and importation of firearms, ammunition, or parts Firearms – is any instrument or an assembly which can discharge or propel a
thereof, in order to provide legal support to the law enforcement agencies in bullet or any similar object by means of expansive force of gases
their campaign against crime, stop the proliferation of illegal firearms or generated from the combustion of an explosive substance or burning
weapons and the illegal manufacture of firearms and weapons, ammunition and gunpowder.
parts thereof.
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TYPES OF FIREARMS Light Weapons (Section 3, RA 10591)

In the Philippines, Republic Act 10591 was signed on May 29, 2013, Class-A Light Weapons
amending certain provisions of Republic Act 8294 and Presidential Decree
1866. In this law, firearms were classified and defined into several These refer to self-loading pistols. Rifles, and carbines, submachine
classifications, as follows: guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns that do not exceed caliber 7.62mm
and have a fully automatic mode.
Small Arms (Article I, Section 3, R.A 10591) refers to firearms intended to be
or primarily designed for individual use or that which is generally considered to 7.62 x 39mm AK 47
mean weapon intended to be fired from the hand or shoulder, which are not
capable of fully automatic bursts of discharge, such as:
Class-B Light Weapons
1. Handgun – which is a firearm intended to be fired from the hand, which
includes: These refer to weapons designed for use by two or more individuals
serving as crew members, or to rifles and machine guns that exceed caliber
a. Pistol – a hand-operated firearm with a chamber that is integral with 7.62mm, such as heavy machine guns, handheld under barrel and mounted
or permanently aligned with the bore, which may be self- grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns, portable and anti-tank guns,
loading. recoilless rifles, portable launchers of anti-tank missile, and mortars with a
caliber less than 100mm
b. Revolver – a hand-operated firearm with a revolving cylinder
containing chambers for individual cartridges.
COMMON ACTION TYPES OF FIREARMS
2. Rifle – this is a shoulder firearm or that which is designed to be fired from
the shoulder, which can discharge a bullet through a rifled barrel Automatic – refers to a firearm design that feeds cartridges, fires, extracts, and
by different actions of loading. Loadings can be classified as lever, ejects cartridge cases for as long as the trigger is depressed and
bolt, or self-loading. there are cartridges that remain in the magazine. This is also
known as a fully automatic firearm.
3. Shotgun – this a weapon designed, made, and intended to fire a number of
ball shots or a single projectile through a smooth bore via the
action of the energy generated by burning gunpowder.
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Double Action – this classification refers to a handgun mechanism wherein a

singe pull of the trigger cocks and releases the hammer in a
single operation.

Bolt – a type of firearm wherein the closure of the breach is aligned with the
bore at all times. The two types of bolt actions are the straight pull and
the turn bolt.
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Falling – a single shot lever action mechanism. The breechblock slides Revolver – a firearm, such as a handgun, which has a cylinder with several
vertically, when the lever is moved, to expose or lock the breech. chambers. These chambers are arranged in such a way that they
rotate around an axis and are discharged successively via the same
Lever – this is a design in which the breech mechanism is cycled by an external firing mechanism.
lever that is generally below the receiver. The external lever is
normally the extension of the trigger guard.
Semi-Automatic – refers to a repeating firearm that requires a separate pull of
the trigger for each shot fired. This type utilizes the
discharge energy to initiate the operating or firing cycle.
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Single Action – refers to an action that requires the manual cocking of the
hammer prior to pressing the trigger, which then releases the
hammer.

Slide Action – also known as pump action, the slide features a movable forearm
that is manually triggered by the shooter in a parallel motion
to the barrel. The forearm motion is transmitted to a breech
bolt assembly that performs all the functions of the firing
cycle.