MINISTER of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, yesterday received a Styliner Mark 3 dot-peen marking machine from the Organisation of the American States (OAS) Country Representative, Dennis Moses, as Guyana joined several countries from the Caribbean and Latin America in promoting firearms-marking practices and in strengthening efforts to combat the trafficking of illegal firearms in the hemisphere. The minister, accepting the equipment, said that it will go a far way in boosting the efficiency of law enforcement agencies in Guyana.
“This equipment will contribute to the capacity-building and institutional strengthening of our law enforcement agencies…It will also send a strong signal to those who are engaged in illegal trafficking in firearms in this country, and alert them that this equipment will help us trace the illegal firearms that are used in committing criminal activities,” the minister said.
He assured that Guyana stands ready to cooperate fully with all the other international partners who are part of this project, in so far as information gathering and sharing is concerned.
Minister Rohee said , “We have always maintained that as crime becomes more sophisticated, we who are engaged in this fight have to become more sophisticated in terms of the equipment we use to conduct this fight.”
The OAS Representative noted that the Caribbean serves as a transit region for drugs moving north and illicit firearms moving south. Increasingly, however, the guns are staying in the Region and are contributing to the increasing rates of crime and violence throughout the Region.
“We are here to support you in your efforts to combat illicit trafficking of firearms…an OAS officer will travel to Guyana to provide training necessary to operate the equipment, as well as a laptop computer for proper record-keeping of the marked firearms,” Moses said.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central America and the Caribbean, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Julissa Reynoso, said that the US Government is very pleased to provide the funding for this OAS initiative to increase firearms-marking capability throughout Latin American and the Caribbean.
She explained that proper marking and efficient record record-keeping are two key factors in any effective plan to investigate and interdict illicit trafficking of firearms. She added too that OAS member-states have shown their commitment to addressing this important security concern through their enthusiastic participation in this programme.
“Today’s transfer of this equipment is an excellent demonstration of our continuous and prosperous partnership under the CBSI,” Reynoso said.
The process of firearms marking will see the weapons being permanently marked with identifiable information, such as serial number, name, place, manufacturer/importer, model, and calibre, and is an essential step to helping law enforcement agencies  trace recovered firearms used in crimes, as well as identify trafficking routes and traffickers.