Anna-Lisa Paul
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith will soon begin responding to the 13,000 plus people who have applied for permits to own and carry a firearm.
Speaking at yesterday's Policemen Can Cook Competition, Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, Griffith said he will soon be addressing the current backlog.
He said the law does not state that the Commissioner of Police should decide to himself or herself "that I feel that everyone should have a firearm or everyone should not. It is not my say, it is not the say of previous commissioners of police or future. There is a law and the law states there is a qualification and if you adhere to the qualification, you are eligible."
Dismissing concerns by some who may find it inappropriate for certain individuals to carry firearms, Griffith said, "Then you have to change the law. Until then, my job is to adhere to the law and to adhere to my obligations to ensure that the law is enforced."
The CoP said he intended to deal with any and all applications that end up on his desk.
He said, "I may approve all, I may reject all. I may approve some and reject some."
He said people whose applications end up in the rejections pile, could seek redress before the Appeals Board. He said he was not afraid to appear before the board to justify his decisions.
Griffith said, "What I am not going to do is have all of these 13,000 persons on hold and not even have the common courtesy to at least explain to them what is being done."