MOVES are again being made to tighten the regulations regarding the issuance of gun licences and work on the implementation of a second version of the police force’s Firearm Licensing Management System (FLMS) has reportedly recommenced.

The Guyana Chronicle has learnt that the second part of the comprehensive IT programme, which supports the application of the gun-licensing process is finally back on the table after much resistance in the past. A police source close to the system’s implementation told this newspaper that not only has work restarted on implementation of the software, but training of police staffers is expected within a week’s time and hopefully the programme would become operational in June.

The FLMS was developed to help track all information and activities surrounding the issuance of firearms and gun licences under then Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee. Back in 2013, Rohee had said that the FLMS was designed to help improve accountability and efficiency in the procedure by supporting the application process.

He said that it would allow police divisions to electronically record licence applications and use an activity-based methodology to support the application process in terms of approval or rejection and the ministry would have full access to this system. The first version of the programme provided the police with the opportunity to record all information on gun arrests made and the identities of suspects and felonies committed. It also allows all police stations to access this information from their various locations, among other features.

The second version of the programme relates however to the actual application and issuance process and provides a clear tracking system of the entire progression which would be available to the Public Security Ministry, the police and /or any other relevant entity. This second version would show the date when a person had applied to the police commissioner for the licence, the date they had gone to the respective police commanders for the mandatory evaluation of the candidate to be made and whether the candidate’s application would make it to the gun-licensing board, among other important pieces of information relevant to transparency of the process. In other words, this part of the programme would show whether any shortcuts were taken in the gun-licensing procedure or whether the stipulations for issuing a firearm had been followed.

Almost five years on with the programme, the source said that deliberate efforts were made to frustrate the implementation of the second version of the programme at very senior levels of the police force. Now, it looks as though implementation of the programme is receiving “better support. Time will tell however whether they really want to stabilise the process and make it transparent,” the source asserted.

Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, had said recently that “serious consideration” would be given to amending regulations regarding the issuance of firearm licences. His statement had come against the background of former Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud applying to himself and then granting himself firearm licences for his firearm dealership business. Persaud had defended his action, saying that the same process was used by his predecessors to issue themselves firearm licences. He was however ordered to revoke the one he had issued himself for his gun dealership. It was noted that even with the presence of a Firearm Licensing Board, the police commissioner would still have the authority to issue licences.