Bayu Marhaenjati, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Zaky Pawas – "Yeah, I sell guns. All types and all prices," says A.J., a self-proclaimed "registered" arms dealer in East Jakarta.
"I've got guns that cost Rp 4 million to 8 million [$430 to $860]. If you want German- or Russian-made, it'll cost you Rp 10 million to 20 million. I've got modified and stock guns. It's all legit. I'm not hiding anything."
A.J. claims to be authorized by the Indonesian Shooting and Hunting Association (Perbakin) to sell firearms. The problem, nongovernmental group Indonesia Police Watch says, is that the known number of guns sold so far this year already exceeds the annual quota for legitimate licenses by almost sevenfold.
Who has all these guns? Legislators, for one, says Pramono Anung, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. He cites the case of Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin, of the Democratic Party, who recently announced that he would turn in his gun to the police, following a wave of gun crimes and revelations about lax gun controls.
"I don't believe legislators should be carrying around a firearm. So for those who still have one, please turn it in," he said on Wednesday.
He added that there were cases of some legislators carrying their guns when visiting their constituencies, which he said was regrettable. "That shows a deep distrust by the legislators in the people that they represent," Pramono said. "If they feel threatened, they should report it to the police."
However, he blames the police for the high rate of gun ownership in the country, with more than 18,000 firearm licenses issued this year. "It seems that if you have money, it's easy to get a gun. This needs to be fixed and the number of licenses limited," he said.
Another group of people known to carry guns are businesspeople, highlighted most recently in the case of Iswahyudi Ashari, who pulled a gun on a waiter at a Jakarta restaurant because he thought the latter had overcharged him.
Muara Karta, Iswahyudi's lawyer, said that as a "big businessman," his client carried a Beretta pistol for self-protection and that it was registered with the police. He was arrested last week.
In a high-profile case in 2005, Adiguna Sutowo, whose family owned the Hilton Hotel in Senayan, shot dead a waiter at a bar there. He was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison. The hotel has since been renamed the Sultan Hotel.
And then there are the hobbyists, who mostly buy airsoft guns – true-to-life replicas of real weapons, but which fire only plastic pellets. Though they don't use live ammunition, airsoft weapons still require a gun permit.
Sr. Comr. Rikwanto, the Jakarta Police spokesman, said airsoft gun owners must belong to one of the many sanctioned shooting clubs in the country. "If you don't belong to a club, then your weapon is considered illegal," he said.
Neta S. Pane of Indonesian Police Watch said the police were issuing far too many gun permits.
According to the 2012 state budget, projected revenue from gun permits this year is Rp 2.608 billion. With each permit costing Rp 1 million, that means only 2,608 permits are supposed to be issued for the year.
However, the police had already issued 18,030 permits in the first four months of the year. Making matters worse, they have only submitted Rp 2.6 billion to the state as revenue, leaving another Rp 15.4 billion unaccounted for, Neta said. "That's why we're calling for a forensic audit and a corruption investigation into the gun licenses," he said.
Rikwanto, however, defended the large number of permits, saying that citizens needed some measure of self-protection because the police force was overstretched. "Our job is indeed to provide security, but in practice we have to do so many other things," he said.
He also gave assurances that gun permits were carefully issued based on tests and psychological profiles of the applicants.
[Additional reporting by Antara.]