Griffith knocks OLEP's clampdown on issuing FULs

Former police commissioner Gary Griffith has criticised the decision of the Ministry of National Security's Office of Law Enforcement Policy (OLEP) to clamp down on the issuing of firearms users licenses (FULs). He says the problem of gun violence stems from illegal firearms as opposed to those that were legally obtained.

During a handing over ceremony of a report to National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds in September, director of OLEP Gale Charles said the proliferation of firearms in TT was a major concern to the government.

The report titled Review of the Firearms Licensing System in Trinidad and Tobago, sought to address the fairness and transparency of the issuing of FULs and whether citizens were entitled to carry a gun.

On his Facebook page, Griffith knocked the OLEP for not focusing on strategies to address the entry and use of illegal guns which, he said, were a bigger threat to citizens' lives than legitimately acquired weapons.

"When the media asked how many licensed firearms have been used in the last few years to commit the 1500-odd murders, she went silent. The answer is zero.

"Seems that OLEP was so clueless they did not understand that the problems with firearms involve ‘illegal firearms’ which are used to murder innocent people.

"But they draft a proposal to deal with the 'concern' of legal firearms being issued, yet never consulting with the TTPS on it. Legal firearms have not been used in a single crime in the last three years."

Griffith argued, preventing people from legally applying to own a gun would cause more harm than good as criminals would continue to access weapons through illegal dealers.