Gun amnesty…The skeptics have been proven wrong – Ramjattan
“Skeptics will always be skeptics and especially persons who don’t want to try new strategies. I have tried it and obviously it is successful”
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, has lashed out at skeptics of his gun amnesty programme. He has said that had they tried it while they had the chance, the crime rate involving the use of guns might not have been so high.
Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan
Ramjattan was directly referring to former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee who had publicly criticized the programme, boldly declaring that it will not work in Guyana. “Skeptics will always be skeptics, especially persons who don’t want to try new strategies. I have tried it and obviously it is successful,” Ramjattan told this newspaper yesterday. So far, the amnesty, which was originally scheduled to last for one month and which has been extended by two weeks, has already realized the surrender of a total of 142 illegal firearms, a figure which Minister Ramjattan described as excellent. “That’s a huge figure for persons to voluntarily turn in…This amnesty was very successful, especially last week. It would appear that more and more people see the need to hand in illegal weapons and ammunition,” the Public Security Minister said. Figures from the police show that of the total number of illegal weapons turned in, shotguns make up the largest group with 121. There were 10 pistols, seven air rifles, three revolvers and an AK-47 assault rifle. Most of the weapons have been turned in at the police interior locations; they comprise 115 shotguns, a .32 pistol and the lone assault rifle. Eight pistols, three shotguns and three air rifles were surrendered in the Georgetown district. All the other Police Divisions, except Berbice and Esssequibo have received illegal weapons. Minister Ramjattan said that based on the spike in the surrender of illegal weapons in the past week, he has been advised to extend the amnesty. According to Ramjattan, while most of the weapons were turned in at the Interior locations, there is information that a lot more illegal firearms are still out there on the Coastland. He repeated his warning that if those with illegal weapons do not hand them in by October 14, they will receive no leniency from the law. “I want to send the message that the crackdown is going to be very severe. We will have to get those outstanding weapons with a crackdown and when we do that we will get about two to three times what was turned in. We want to start a process of making Guyana a law abiding state and we have to do it with a certain intensity level,” Ramjattan stated. Addressing the possible vulnerability of persons, especially in the hinterland, who, having turned in illegal weapons could be at the mercy of criminal elements who take advantage of the vastness of the area to act with impunity, Ramjattan said that he has had discussions with Vice-President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs Sydney Allicock. According to the Public Security Minister, he indicated to his Cabinet colleague that he will try to fast track firearm licences for legitimate applicants, such as village leaders and farmers. “For those who feel vulnerable, bring in your illegal weapons and make an application for a legal gun. Rest assured that this minister will not charge $600,000 for a firearm licence,” Ramjattan declared. He had these parting words for all the doubters of the gun amnesty programme. “The skeptics have all been proven wrong, especially Mr. Rohee. Had he done it (amnesty), it might have meant a lot more to reduce crime.”
