Tuesday’s fatal shooting of a 24-year-old man in Tucville, Georgetown, has left Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan more determined to control firearm holders.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Ramjattan disclosed that he intends to conduct a yearly review on all licensed firearm holders to ensure that they are still compatible with the criteria for issuance.
He explained that this is being done since the personality of people often change as they get older and they might not be as sound as they would have been at the time when they were evaluated before being issued with the firearm licence.
In this regard, the Minister said he intends to conduct new evaluation and review of firearm licence holders when they turn-up to renew their licences every year.
“I intend to go back and do the checks every year because some of these people get old and they get depressed, who were very valid applicants years ago. So we have to do an ongoing process and if the ongoing process is going to realise a revocation, I think it is good because after getting (the licences) you are not the same persons from age 25 to age 75,” he pointed out.
Ramjattan went on to talk about the Tucville shooting, noting that it was a very sad situation thus solidifying his approach to evaluate licence holders.
“It’s an extremely sad story; I would not believe that someone, from what I’m being told, just sees a car turn into his driveway and then he come down like a cowboy and start shooting… what is that? We got a lot of people that are not mentally sound in this place and they carry arms,” the Minister remarked.
However, another area that the Public Security Minister said needs to be reviewed is the issuance of gun licences to private security firms.
“At the time when they (firms) might have applied for the licence, they might have had a good set of guys who may do the work for the firm but during the course of the years, those guys fall off. Some go America, some die, some migrate and then we get some people who we did not make checks on and because the company got the licences, we don’t know of some of these characters,” Ramjattan outlined.
The Public Security Minister renewed his position on local gun control following the death of 24-year old Colin Perreira of Barr Street, Kitty, whose body was riddled with bullets by the owner of a Tucville house.
Reports revealed that Perreira was in a motor car with a female, 20-year-old Gail Ann Chacon, who was driving and had used the suspect’s parapet to reverse the vehicle. The shooter, a licensed firearm holder, reportedly stormed out of his house with his weapon and opened fire on the vehicle.
The young man was killed while the 20-year old female has been listed a critical.
This incident comes less than two weeks after a 74-year-old miner, Theodore Adams, committed suicide after injuring his reputed wife with a gunshot wound to her mouth. Reports revealed Adams had been suffering from mental health-related issues and this may have triggered the shooting.
