Saturday’s incident in Busan involving a gun theft from an indoor shooting range has raised alarms concerning gun safety in a country where guns are strictly controlled.

A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of stabbing the owner of an indoor shooting range and fleeing with a 0.45 caliber handgun and 19 bullets. He was caught after a four-hour manhunt involving police, police dogs and a SWAT team.

Fearing that the man would commit further crimes, such as taking hostages, police immediately posted a 10 million won reward for information leading to his arrest and went public with the search. With the Busan International Film Festival in full swing, there was even greater urgency to nab the suspect as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the suspect was caught fleeing in a taxi before committing any further offense.

The suspect has told police that he planned to rob a post office — post offices here also handle banking — for money needed to open a restaurant. He aborted his first attempt to steal a gun on Friday when he found a male employee on duty along with the female owner. He returned the following morning and upon finding only the owner on the premises, signed up to check out a gun and 50 bullets — it was later found that he had given false information when signing up — and used up some 20 bullets at the shooting range. He then stole the handgun and 19 bullets as he pretended to return them to the owner, stabbing the woman several times in the process.

It turned out that the shooting range did not adhere to the regulations concerning the operation of shooting ranges. Whereas there should be at least two employees present at all times, the owner was manning the place by herself. A hook was used to lock the gun in place at the shooting range, rather than a lock, which allowed the suspect to remove the gun without much difficulty.

On Sunday, police carried out an inspection of the country’s 14 live ammunition indoor shooting ranges. Not surprisingly, a majority of them — nine — were found to be in violation of the current regulations and were temporarily shut down.

Authorities said that they would impose stricter regulations at indoor shooting ranges and conduct more thorough inspections. However, the incident in Busan was not the first time a gun and bullets have been stolen from a shooting range and each time the authorities vowed stricter monitoring of the businesses. For example, in 2006, a man stole a handgun and 20 bullets from a shooting range in Seoul while the supervisor was temporarily absent. The gun was used in a bank heist.

There are some 214 shooting ranges in Korea, 14 of which use live ammunition and handguns. With the demonstrated inability of the authorities to ensure safety of guns at live ammunition indoor shooting ranges, it may be prudent to abolish these businesses.

The public should ask why these live ammunition indoor shooting ranges need to exist — what purpose do they serve and who are the clients? Are people’s lives put in danger for the few who enjoy shooting live ammunition as a sport? Since businesses are unable to observe the rules and regulations and the authorities cannot ensure strict enforcement, it may be wise to shut down these indoor shooting ranges before a tragic incident unfolds.