SEAN DOUGLAS

BARATARIA/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein is asking why approved staff at the clandestine Strategic Services Agency (SSA) may be given guns, under the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2022, but none for special reserve police (SRP) officers who were excluded from a list of protective services members who can be armed.

Speaking on the bill in the House of Representatives on Friday, he also called for guns for businessmen.

Chiding Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds, who piloted the bill, Hosein said it was "an admission of failure," to talk about the threat of crime but not say what one would do about it.

Recalling Hinds saying police and prison officers were under attack in their personal lives, Hosein said, "But what about the ordinary citizens who can't protect themselves?" He urged Government to let businessmen get firearms in a more expeditious manner than now obtains.

Hosein stormed, "It is easier to access an illegal firearm in this country than a legal one."

Referring to Hinds saying TT has developed a gun culture, he hit Government, asking, "Who caused this? You are at the steering wheel for seven years. They have left the borders open. We don't manufacture firearms in TT."

While saying something must be done on crime, Hosein did not think the bill would create any dent in crime.

After clarification from Hinds, Hosein said if the TTPS has a use of force policy, then municipal police also needed one.

Hosein said the bill's parent act exempts five classes of protective services from being charged of possession of firearms and the bill aimed to expand this list to add new categories such as approved officers of the SSA.

However, he said unlike the original act, the new bill did not list SRPs. He asked if this was an oversight.

Questioning the bill, he said SSA officers are generally not involved in active combat, but rather, conduct surveillance and intel-gathering. He wondered whether SSA staff would be required to undergo firearms training, noting that FUL applicants otherwise require a certificate of competence.

He asked why the bill proposes that the SSA director and staff he approves, do not need a FUL.

"Why can't the commissioner of police be in charge of that procedure?"

Hosein read out a list of murdered prison officers, saying they were under threat and were clamouring for additional resources.

Lamenting $500,000 in the budget for protective equipment for prison officers such as bullet proof vests and stab proof vests, he said, "More must be done to protect the lives of our prison officers and their families."

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