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There have been persistent informal reports of an increase in the number of gun licenses, along with credible reports that if you know the right person at the right gun store - you can pay for a gun license.
The Commissioner has denied that there has been any spike. On the contrary, he explained that it's even harder to get a license since he became the ComPol since he strictly abides by the requirements before approving any application.
And last night on Uncut, he brought out the stats to prove it. He told host Jules Vasquez that there has not been a spike, and those reports are being pushed by the Leader of the Opposition, who - he pointed out - also has a gun license. However, he said that if he were commissioner at that time, Shyne Barrow's license wouldn't have been approved.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"In 2017, 850 requests were denied and 895 were approved. In 2019, 300 were denied and 499 were approved. But remember in 2019 was when I just took over, and when I took over, there were some discrepancies so I had placed gun licenses on hold for at least three months so that's why the number would have been so low. In 2020, 354 were denied and 419 were approved. In 2021, 531 were denied and 767 were approved. In 2022, 309 were denied and 782 were approved. So there is no significant increase, of course, we have an increased population, so the applications are going to increase, there's a greater demand, people opening businesses, people like you rightly said, feel insecure to some extent and they want to be able to protect themselves but going back to the Leader of the Opposition, speaking about the right to bear arms, as I said Jules—"
Jules Vasquez:
"Which is not a right in Belize."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"It is not a right. For me, you must meet a certain threshold and I don't think that the Leader of the Opposition has any moral authority to speak about who should and who should not bear arms. He doesn't have that moral authority.""
Jules Vasquez:
" Because he was involved in a gun incident you believe"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Yes, he has a gun license. I personally would not approve a gun license for a person who has a conviction that the Leader of the Opposition has, I would not do that."
Jules Vasquez:
"But you approved it."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I was not the—"
Jules Vasquez:
"You were not the commissioner."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"No. The commissioner then saw the need and approved it for him, no offense to that. He's the Leader of the Opposition now, he is a reformed man like he said, I give him credit for that, but when you live in a glass house, don't throw stones."
And Williams also explained the other measures that he has implemented to ensure gun safety. He even offered our news director the chance to view the electronic ledger of who all possess gun licenses.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Since I became commissioner, we have done a lot to try and hold gun license holders more accountable. We even went to the extent, because he also said that the ammunitions that are being used in committing murders are purchased by licensed firearm holders, things that he has no proof about but what we had done is that we had limited the amount of ammunition you can buy for the year. Remember they had the whole issue about—"
Jules Vasquez:
" I recall."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"But again it was done with a view to be able to better streamline to hold licensed gun holders more accountable and what is done now is that to the back of the license, you have a minutes sheet so the gun dealer knows that you're only entitled to two hundred rounds per year."
"secondly we have also, the approval letter you get, we have also transformed that and put on the approval letter all the rules and expectations that they expect of you as a license firearm holder so once you get that you already know, these are what you must ensure. Then we also what we also have done is that we are requiring for the most part that when you do apply, you have to produce proof that you have undergone training with a license firearm instructor in terms of how to use and handle a firearm, so we have done a lot."
Jules Vasquez:
"Is there an electronic record maintained as should be of all the gun licenses issued?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
" Yes."
Jules Vasquez:
"Is it still active and currently maintained?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I make sure. Prior to me there was none. I made sure that since I became commissioner we have accurate record of every gun license issued."
"there are people who are undermining and obviously they are trying to feed you a bunch of nonsense and whenever you have the time and you go to Belmopan, you come and I will show you the ledger."
We pressed the commissioner to agree to an audit of the gun license ledger by the Auditor General's office and he did, saying he had nothing to hide. This morning 7News received a copy of an internal police directive that Aldo Ayuso who we know as one of the Compol's drivers be given access to the police CIMS (SIMS) system to, quote, "do proper vetting and search for gun licenses"
