Gun licences issued under APNU/AFC to be reviewed – Home Affairs Minister

Gun licences issued for 2020 under the previous APNU/AFC Administration will be reviewed, according to Home Affairs Minister Roberson Benn, who noted that this is because more than half of the gun licenses issued were done without engaging the Firearm Licensing Board.

During the Budget debates, Benn had blasted his predecessor, Khemraj Ramjattan, for taking a one-man approach with regards to the issuance of firearm licenses.
In fact, he had told the National Assembly, “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.”
During a recent interview with Guyana Times, Benn was specifically asked if these licenses would be revoked, given that the stipulated procedure was not followed. Minister Benn, however, informed that he is currently looking at the data, and will have it forwarded to the Firearm Licensing Board for review. Once this is done, he added, “we will see what next steps we will embark upon.”
There is a three-stage process for licensing.
It begins with an application letter being sent to the Divisional Commander, who assigns a rank to check on the applicant’s character in his or her community. The application is then sent to the Commissioner’s Office to ensure that the applicant has no previous antecedents or convictions.

The application then goes to the Firearm Licensing Board.  It is then decided, at that stage, whether the applicant is fit. If so, the application is sent to the Minister for the final stamp of approval.
In 2018, the issuance of gun license came under the microscope after former Top Cop Seelall Persaud bypassed the Firearm Licensing Board when he attempted to grant himself a license to open a firearm dealership as well as an upgrade of the calibre of weapons he is allowed to carry.
Shortly before he went into retirement, the then coalition Government had forced Seelall to revoke the approval of a firearm dealer licence, which he granted himself. The former Police Commissioner had said that the move was unprecedented.