…says Board members were afraid to meet because they were “scared” of COVID-19
Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), the former Public Security Minister under the previous APNU/AFC Government, Khemraj Ramjattan, has admitted that 39 firearm licences were granted from March to August 2020 without the approval of the Firearm Licensing Approval Board.
While speaking at his party’s recent press conference, Ramjattan, an Attorney-at-Law by profession, sought to defend this by stating that the Firearm Licensing Approval Board was afraid to meet during this period because they were scared of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The firearm licences for the 2020 March period, up to when we [APNU/AFC] were in Government in 2020, that period, 39 firearm licences were granted without the Board’s approval, but with the Commissioner [of Police] and [Police] Commander approval. The Board was afraid to meet because of that small room they used to meet downstairs. They were scared of the COVID,” explained.
Guyana’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed on March 11, 2020.
Because of “necessity”, he said, 39-gun licences were granted without the Board’s approval. He added that those who were issued with licences “are all people of good character”.
Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn had previously told the National Assembly there would be a review of all the firearm licences granted under the coalition Government, because it was discovered that more than half of them were issued without approval from the Board.
“It appears as though 2020 was a banner year for the issuance of firearms at the hand of the Minister [Ramjattan] without the engagement of the Firearm Licensing Board. 61 per cent of all firearms issued in 2020 were issued at the hands of the Minister without the engaging of the Firearm Licensing Board,” Minister Benn had told the House.
Although he admitted that some firearm licences were issued without the Board’s approval, Ramjattan, in responding to Minister Benn, dismissed his assertion as “scandalous”. In so doing, he said, “I want to indicate that during the 2015-2020 period, all gun licences granted were granted after approval by the Commander of the Division, the Commissioner of Police, and the Firearm License Board.
The five-year performance report that I published has each year and how many gun licences were granted. It is far less than the amounts granted prior to 2015.”
Ramjattan has called on the Home Affairs Minister to reconvene the Public Security Parliamentary Committee, so that the issue at hand and other matters could be scrutinised. According to him, Minister Benn has refused to reconvene the committee because he is afraid of his stewardship of the Home Affairs Ministry being scrutinized.
Moreover, Ramjattan disclosed that all information pertaining to the issuance of firearm licences under his tenure as a minister can be found at the Ministry’s Firearm Licence Unit.
Notably, the AFC Leader pointed out that when he was appointed Public Security Minister in 2015, “I did not change any persons on the Board. They were all members who were there for two or three years before 2015. I never, never changed anybody.”
The Ministry of Public Security was renamed the Home Affairs Ministry when the PPP/C returned to Government in August 2020.
The criterion for eligibility for a gun licence may change as a result of reforms to the application procedure that Minister Benn hinted at last year. There is a three-stage process for licensing. It begins with an application letter being sent to the Divisional Police Commander, who assigns a rank to check on the applicant’s character in his or her community. The application is then sent to the Police Commissioner’s Office to ensure that the applicant has no previous antecedents or convictions. The application then goes to the Firearm Licensing Approval Board. It is then decided at that stage whether the applicant is fit.
If so, the application is sent to the Home Affairs Minister for the final stamp of approval. Unsuccessful applicants have the right to appeal the refusal of their applications for firearm licences under the Firearms Act to the President of Guyana.
