Former police commissioner Gary Griffith says sniper rifles are not prohibited weapons and can be found at any gun range where there is target practice and competitive shooting.
Furthermore, the former top cop said there are dozens of people in this country who have such weapons, as he dismissed what he called attempts to create panic over the importation of two “AX2 Bolt Action” rifles and claims they were to be used to assassinate.
Griffith also took issue with the “desperate” attempts to go after suspended Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher, adding that for three years, there were desperate attempts to try to find something on him with respect to allegations about the issuance of firearms user’s licences (FULs).
Griffith said he was criticised for issuing weapons to the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), but he did this only for police officers who were assigned to the agency at the time.
He said the imported “AX2 Bolt Action” rifles now at the centre of attention may be a bit more sophisticated, but they are the same type of calibre and deadly force of those used on the gun range.
He said claims that they are only for the military are false.
“There are about 40 to 60 people who have similar types of weapons, and they are used for competitive shooting. These so-called sniper rifles are used where anybody can go to Tucker Valley on a Saturday and you will see them….
“So let us not fool ourselves into believing that these so-called sniper-type weapons are only for the military; they are not,” he added.
For “resale” not new
Griffith further said that every firearms dealer who brings weapons into the country does so for resale.
He dismissed claims that the sniper rifles were imported for assassination work, noting that when a weapon comes into the country, it must undergo ballistic testing, so if it is used in any crime, it will be linked to that weapon.
Griffith said if someone wanted to conduct an assassination, they would do so with an illegal weapon, not one that went through a rigorous process.
The former commissioner noted that there is an argument that a sniper rifle is only for the military.
“There is nothing in the law that stops the Commissioner of Police from giving such a weapon to a civilian,” he said.
Griffith added that a number of weapons fall under the SSA.
“In 2016, the SSA had more firearms than the Defence Force because of the weapons that the Special Anti-Crime Unit had, which were given and handed over to the SSA for control and security. The Defence Force weapons that are in Cumuto Barracks are under the control of the SSA,” he said.
He said that for the last 30 years, every SSA director has had an FUL, and this is used to acquire side arms to be given to other officers in the agency.
Griffith defended providing weapons to the SSA, saying it is an intelligence agency where officers have to be in volatile locations.
