Confronted by an alarming increase in gun related crimes, Law enforcement agencies plan to intensify their campaign to rid the streets of illegal firearms, according to the Home Affairs Minister.
In a recent interview with News Source, Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn said the Police Force has seized a number of firearms in recent weeks.
News Source understands that in Division 4 A alone, which covers Georgetown, 22 firearms were seized since the start of the year.
Minister Benn said in addition to conducting random searches, the Police Force has been continuously receiving intelligence on illegal weapons, including those coming through the country’s porous borders.
“There is quite a bit of work being done now to identify persons, who may have illegal guns. Over the past two weeks, there have been a number of illegal firearms seized by the police, and by CANU,” Minister Benn said.
He said the Force is also tracking the source of the guns.
Based on the evidence before the Police, it was found that many of the illegal guns are coming into Guyana through Venezuela and Brazil mostly.
“We are aware that most of the guns, which are discovered are manufactured in the United States of America. There are a few, which are filtering through from Venezuela and perhaps Brazil,” Minister Benn explained.
And citing a recent murder-suicide case involving a licensed firearm holder, the Home Affairs Minister said his Ministry will also be clamping down on the demand for gun licences.
“We are working hard to prevent or to moderate the demand for firearms. We are surprised from an earlier period that firearms were issued, and we are not sure of the proper credentials of those persons who received those firearms,” he said.
He said a review is being done to assess the manner in which licenses were issued under the previous Government. He wants to also push for some legislative changes to better guide the licensing process.
“So that’s what we are doing with the overall strategy, we have a team, which has been working in respect of the overall question of firearm use, tracking, and also in respect to training for persons who are legally qualified, who have a firearms licence, we want them to be trained. And we looking at the issue of legislation to bring about that in a more formal way,” he said.
But even as Minister Benn expressed concern about the manner in which licenses were issued under the APNU+AFC, he declined to disclose the number of firearm licenses that have been issued under his watch.
Former Minister of Public Security under the APNU+AFC Administration, Khemraj Ramjattan recently explained that with the exception of the period March-August 2020, all other gun licences were issued based on approval granted by the Divisional Commander, Commissioner of Police and the Firearms License Board, in accordance with the law.
“Thirty-nine 39 firearms, as far as I know, was granted, 39 without the Firearms Licence Board but the scandal is that Ramjattan approved. Ramjattan can only approve those that were granted by the Commissioner and the Commander and the Firearm License Board but because of necessity, the 39 were granted without the board,” he said.
Ramjattan also believes the system needs to be better administered.
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