The main Parliamentary Opposition, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) is in support of government’s move to amend a section of the Firearms Act to allow analysts at the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL) to handle firearms in the execution of their duties.
Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn said that the amendment will help close lacunas (loopholes) relative to the law that can be exploited. Government Member of Parliament (MP), Sanjeev Datadin said that anyone who does not possess a licence but handles firearms are doing so illegally. The amendment, according to him, will allow those employees to conduct their reports and tests without fear or the possibility of being penalised.
APNU+AFC MP and former Business Minister, Haimraj Rajkumar welcomed the proposed change, noting that it will indeed allow for reports from GFSL analysts to hold up in court. He added that the proposed change allows the analysts to conduct their examinations more effectively.
Opposition MP, Vinceroy Jordan also registered his approval, noting that analysts can now rest assured that they would not be penalized. He, however, took a jab at the government for seeking to implement a measure that has its genesis in the former APNU+AFC 2015 – 2020 administration.
Former Public Security Minister and Opposition MP, referred to the bill as a “piece of low hanging fruit” cultivated and now being plucked” by the subject minister to score political points. He took credit for the initiation of the amendment while suggesting that protocols must be implemented to avoid analysts from “gallivanting around the place” with firearms beyond the confines of GFSL.
