A WOMAN is nursing gunshot wounds to her mouth after her husband’s firearm allegedly went off accidentally Thursday afternoon while he was cleaning it. Injured is Ovika Jagmohan of Schoonord Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara. Reports are sketchy, but the Guyana Chronicle was told that the woman’s husband, Deonarine Jagmohan, brother of popular businessman, Tameshwar Jagmohan, was allegedly cleaning his weapon when it went off, hitting the woman in her mouth. The police have arrested the man and seized his licensed firearm and the woman was rushed to a city hospital. Commander of ‘D’ Division, Leslie James, said that the man told investigators that he was cleaning his licensed 9MM pistol at 12:30PM when a round was discharged hitting his wife in her jaw. However, investigators found the circumstances suspicious and are hoping his wife recovers soon to explain how she was shot.
The incident comes amid a fierce row between government and citizens regarding the issuing of firearm licences, which the administration intends to limit. President David Granger announced recently that his administration intends to see fewer guns on the streets by limiting the issuing of firearm licences to private persons. He said he believes weapons should be used by law-enforcement agencies, and not private citizens. He said, too, that there are licensed holders of firearms who rent their weapons to criminals, and as such, efforts are in train to curb such activities. “So we would like to see fewer weapons in the hands of private citizens; it is my personal view that weapons should be used by law- enforcement agencies -– the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force,” the President said.
Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud has also come out backing calls for the issuing of fewer firearm licences, arguing that there is evidence of fewer gun crimes in societies that have refrained from issuing gun licences to private citizens. He pointed to China, where he said no private person is allowed to have a firearm licence; and he also cited the United Kingdom, where the issuing of gun licences is very limited. Citing the United States as a diametrically contrasting society that has enshrined in its constitution the right to carry firearms, the Top Cop said: “So, in the societies where there are less licensed firearms, there are less gun crimes; and that has been the trend.”