Ex-soldier frustrated by wait to have gun licence reinstated

An ex-soldier is expressing frustration that the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) has failed to honour a ruling by the Review Panel on May 23 last year that his two firearm licences should be reinstated.

He outlined that there was an incident in 2017 at his workplace when he tried to apprehend an intruder.  He recounted that if he did not have his gun with him he could have lost his life.

The matter was reported to the police who took his licensed firearm, which was on his person, and then went to his home and took his shotgun. Sometime after, he said his firearm licences were revoked by the FLA.

An appeal was made to the Review Panel of the FLA which ruled on May 5, 2023  that “the appeal is allowed and the licences are to be reinstated.”

Despite regular trips to the office of the FLA, the ex-soldier said yesterday that he can get no valid reason as to why the ruling of the Review Panel is being disobeyed. He recalled that one day in particular he spent four hours at the FLA trying to get answers but he was basically ignored.

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“I am just fed up with the way the FLA is dealing with me,' he added.

He said further that he wants to start a business but cannot do so until the FLA complies with the order of the Review Panel.

Attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman who represented the ex-soldier in the appeal process said yesterday that it was unfair and unreasonable for the FLA to take more than a year to reinstate the licences.

A representative of the FLA said yesterday that the file was under review because there were certain issues to be addressed.

-Barbara Gayle