Former President Rodrigo Duterte has always been a colorful character, a gunslinger, if you may, who has hundreds of licensed firearms under his name. He’s always shooting from the hip, figuratively at least.

At the start of the Senate probe into his administration’s war on drugs, Duterte reminded us why there’s no middle ground when it comes to looking at the man. It’s either you hate him or love him for his guts and his love for guns.

For someone who partly traces his roots to Danao, the capital of the backyard illegal gun manufacturing sector, Duterte cannot be faulted — in fact, he should be lauded — or showing that the only way to own a gun is to go legal.

To be legit, one must be a law-abiding citizen, a productive member of society, and must have the willingness to go through the gauntlet of being tested for drugs and neuro-psychiatric red flags regularly.

During last month’s gun show in Davao City, where our former Commander in Chief is again running for mayor, Duterte put his money where his mouth is, so to speak. Our source told us that Duterte bought guns from nearly all of the exhibitors, going from booth to booth.

A case of not having enough firepower? Nah. More like a tangible show of force by Duterte for the legal firearms industry.

This week, officials of the Association of Firearms and Ammunition Dealers (AFAD), led by its president Edwin Lim and spokesperson Aric Topacio, met with select members of the press to tout their final gun show for the year, the second half of the 30th Defense and Sporting Arms Show, slated for 20 to 24 November at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

With the country’s biggest firearms manufacturers and importers like Armscor, Tactical Corner, Imperial, Topspot Guns and Ammo, and Jethro participating, gun enthusiasts would surely once again be spoiled for options.

This final show for 2024, according to Topacio, is some sort of a last chance for qualified individuals to buy guns before a six-month election gun ban starts in January next year.

“We take this election gun ban as a challenge to overcome,” Topacio said. That’s an understatement, if this Contrarian ever heard one, as AFAD admitted that their members’ businesses see drops as big as 90 percent every time there’s a gun ban.

For the big dealers, Topacio reckoned, sales of 100 to 200 firearms per week could slump to five or less whenever there’s an extended election-related gun ban, which happens at least every three years. Some are forced to lay off employees, such as gunsmiths or salespeople, he added.

For the sports shooters, especially those participating in international events, a big obstacle is how to keep practicing so they don’t get rusty, said Lim, who is also president of the Philippine Practical Shooting Association.

And while AFAD officials maintained they always have the mindset of operating within the bounds of the law and in close coordination with the government, including the police and the Commission on Elections, when it comes to the hyper-extended gun ban, they are appealing for understanding.

Topacio explained that poll-related gun bans started with durations of a few weeks, were later extended to two months, and now have become an unrealistic six months to cover the campaign and post-election periods.

To have a six-month gun ban doesn’t make sense, according to Topacio and Lim, since there’s no data showing that legally owned firearms were used in election-related violence, whether in killings or ballot box snatchings.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Unlike in the United States, it is so hard to qualify for a gun license in the Philippines for responsible gun owners to use them other than to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Who are these responsible gun owners who are being stripped of the means to protect themselves? Just to name a few — lawyers, judges, businessmen and members of the media, who, by the very nature of their jobs, are put in grave danger.

Meanwhile, during gun bans, the criminals who use unlicensed firearms to rob and kill people are the ones having a field day, making victims of defenseless citizens. Forget the police protecting us. Survival is always something personal.