paltik

{{Use Philippine English|date=December 2022}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}

Paltik is a Filipino term for a homemade firearms.{{cite book|last1=Barreveld|first1=Dirk Jan|title=Cushing's Coup: The True Story of How Lt. Col. James Cushing and His Filipino Guerrillas Captured Japan's Plan Z|date=2015|publisher=Casemate|isbn=9781612003085|page=261|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tKFICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT277|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} It is usually manufactured using scrap metal and angle iron.{{cite book|last1=III|first1=Lynn T. White|title=Philippine Politics: Possibilities and Problems in a Localist Democracy|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317574224|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mvfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} These homemade weapons are usually manufactured in Danao, Cebu,{{cite book|title=Resource Material Series|date=March 1997|publisher=UNAFEI|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFYAw8nTIC8C|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} where the production of replicas of known firearms is a cottage industry.{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Doctor Adam|title=Men of the Global South: A Reader|date=2008|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|isbn=9781848131774|page=268|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPdiDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA268|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} The manufacturers claim to be able to replicate any gun, although they prefer to mass-produce six-cylinder .38 caliber revolvers.{{cite book|last1=Barreveld|first1=Dirk|title=CEBU - A Tropical Paradise in the Pacific|date=2014|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc|isbn=9781312577190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pihdCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT190|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123061341/https://books.google.com/books?id=pihdCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT190|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 23, 2021|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} The Philippine government notes that these firearms are of low quality, even if some are considered as "Class A" or high quality.{{cite book|last1=Geneva|first1=Small Arms Survey|title=Small Arms Survey 2013: Everyday Dangers|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107435735|page=311|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aXqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} Danao has the most concentration of factories since the 1940s,{{cite book|last1=McCoy|first1=Alfred W.|title=An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines|date=2009|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=9780299229849|page=540|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fawaNZu-yqUC&pg=PA540|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} but paltik production can also be found in Negros, Leyte, and Mindanao. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front were also known to produce paltik but were unable to upscale their production due to government pressure.{{cite book|last1=Miani|first1=Lino|title=The Sulu Arms Market: National Responses to a Regional Problem|date=2011|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian|isbn=9789814311113|page=111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWpYd_qYhc8C&pg=PA111|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}}

The paltik suffered from poor accuracy and low quality firing mechanisms. Some lacked rifled bores, reducing their accuracy.{{cite book|title=Philippine Law Dictionary|publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc.|isbn=9789712349119|page=704|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9kHxFAegYEsC&pg=PA704|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} Due to poor craftsmanship, the weapon was more dangerous to the shooter than the target. Some Filipino gunsmiths however, did make reliable percussion cap rifles that functioned in a manner similar to a 19th-century musket.

Paltiks are still being illegally manufactured in the Philippines today. These were being registered during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, but this "legalization" was revoked and all registered paltiks had to be surrendered to the government.{{cite book|last1=Geneva|first1=Small Arms Survey|title=Small Arms Survey 2013: Everyday Dangers|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107435735|page=314|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aXqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA314|accessdate=November 6, 2017|language=en}} President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 171 in 2003 which prohibits paltiks from being licensed.{{cite web|title=Executive Order No. 171, s. 2003 {{!}} GOVPH|url=http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2003/01/22/executive-order-no-171-s-2003/|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|publisher=Government of the Philippines|accessdate=November 6, 2017}}

High quality replicas of .45 caliber semi-auto M1911 pistols have been recorded being made in the Philippines and ending up in the United States black market.{{cite web |url = http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/underworld-inc/episodes/ghost-guns/ |title = GHOST GUNS |work = National Geographic |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20161020104533/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/underworld-inc/episodes/ghost-guns/ |archivedate = October 20, 2016 |df = mdy-all }}