A PARTNERSHIP for National Unity (APNU), along with the Alliance for Change (AFC), yesterday voted down a key piece of legislation looking to make the trafficking of firearms and the importation of firearm components illegal.

The move followed a last ditch attempt by APNU’s Basil Williams, to seek to have Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, prevent the Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, who piloted the Firearms (Amendment) Bill, from speaking in the House.
“The ruling is the ruling,” chided Trotman and said that any member of the House was free to challenge it with a substantive Motion to the House.
Such a Motion would require a gestation period of 12 days and Trotman had cautioned that, “I believe it is for us to resume and put our House in order (before the budget debates).”
Williams had sought to argue that the Speaker could not make the ruling without having the opposition views heard.
He suggested also that the Speaker could only pronounce on procedural matters as against substantive issues.
Trotman, in his defence, and commenting on Williams appeal to not let partisan issues subvert the workings of the House said, whether he comes from the Government or Opposition sides of the House, he has “to do what is right.”
The Speaker said it would have been perverse to continue to allow the minister to not speak or contribute to the business of the House.
Following Trotman’s affirmation that Minister Rohee is within his right to ‘speak’, Rohee presented for first readings two pieces of legislation before moving on to presenting the Firearms (Amendment) Bill for debate.

Minister Rohee firstly sought to emphasise the nature of the problem of illegal firearms in Guyana and said that it is a problem compounded by the fact that the nation’s borders are very porous.
He said the problem facing the Guyana borders are not isolated to this country hence the need to tackle the issue in a cooperative manner.
Rohee argued that on the local front, one of the ways to address the problem is to firstly make it illegal to trafficking firearms and import components.
He spoke to what he called a ‘lacuna’ in the Guyana Legislation, in that trafficking of firearms is not illegal, neither is the importation of components, that can be later used to assemble a lethal weapon.
“As we find these gaps it is important that we pass laws to address these loopholes,” said Minister Rohee.
Rohee said he is in no way under the illusion that the amendment proposed to the law is “the silver bullet or the panacea to solve the problem but it would add value.”
The Home Affairs Minister called on the House to recognise that Guyana is looking to make its contribution to the global fight against trafficking in firearms.
He said that, as the nation continues to participate in international negotiations on the matter, it must lead by example and “the best way we could do it is to pass laws.”
Rohee drew reference also to the recently concluded Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government Meeting, in Haiti, where the trafficking of illegal firearms was highlighted as critical.
Rohee was adamant that the issue of gun control is now on the forefront of the global agenda.
Following the minister’s opening argument to the Debate, the combined Opposition (APNU and AFC) refused to put up a speaker for the debate, paving the way for Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
She told the House that firearms are extremely durable goods that can remain in circulation for a long time.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said that in the Central American Region alone there are some 2.8 million illicit arms and at the rate the authorities manage to effect seizure, it would still require about 150 years to capture all.
She said that with the amendments proposed by Minister Rohee, in the Firearms Amendment Bill, it “will no doubt enhance protections and controls at the national level.”
The Foreign Affairs Minister was adamant that “the illegal trafficking in conventional arms is not just a national issue but a global menace.”
She said that while Guyana is not a manufacturer of weapons, neither is it a significant importer. “The illicit trafficking has taken a toll on the collective society in the Caribbean and elsewhere…the majority of gun crimes are committed with illegal guns,” the Guyanese Foreign Minister posited.
She reiterated that the “problem is not a new one, but a bigger one” and suggested that Guyana as a responsible player in the international community” with the passage of the amendments will directly address one of our treaty obligations.
“This amendment must be seen as Guyana putting in place legislation consistent with what we have been advocating,” she told the House.
Being the only two speakers to the Amendment, the Bill was put to a vote but a resounding No by the Combined Opposition triggered a division of votes.
This led to the Bill being defeated 32 to 28, effectively disallowing the amendments from being approved by the House and further barring it from being reintroduced to the House until after General Elections and the establishment of another Parliament.