A shooting spree in Shanghai on Saturday killed six people. This brutal killing once again prompted debates over gun control in China. One day later, the Ministry of Public Security held an urgent conference, vowing to crack down on firearm crimes. The ministry will launch a comprehensive campaign on firearm management and make efforts to solve this problem.

Guns are strictly controlled in China. According to related regulations, guns are allocated only to specific units and only specific personnel may carry them.

Illegal possession of firearms is a criminal act. The various processes of manufacturing, purchase, transportation are all supervised by related regulations.

If all these regulations can be meticulously implemented, there will be no room left for gun violence.

Due to this strict control, China is generally viewed as being successful in its management of firearms. Especially when compared to frequent gun crimes in the US, China's firearm ban has played a positive role in combating gun related crimes.

The debate over gun management has gone on for a long time in the West and many innocent lives have been taken in this process. With regards to firearm control, there are not many interest groups in China that stand in the way of gun control measures, which makes it possible for China to implement strict gun control.

This explains why gun violence is rare and the scale of damage has been limited these years. But China also lacks experience in managing firearms as opposed to merely banning them.

For example, when gun violence occurs, gun management authorities are held responsible for the incident and stricter control measures will be issued. To escape responsibility, some officials would rather avoid using them, affecting normal usage of firearms.

Present-day China is in a phase when social contradictions are on the rise, which raises greater challenges for firearm management. We have already achieved positive results in this regard and the priority for us currently is to maintain this healthy momentum.

Illegal possession of firearms is always a hidden danger to social stability. To ensure the safety of every citizen, the government must enhance current firearm management and fix the vulnerabilities in it, so as to resolve the firearm problems fundamentally.