Gov’t Recovers Over 300 Guns Including Sophisticated Military Weapons From Civilians

The government has confiscated 340 guns from firearm holders with fake licences, Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i said on Tuesday.

According to the CS, some of the firearms confiscated are military grade weapons that should not be in the hands of civilians.

Speaking after inspecting operations of the Firearms Licensing Board at the DCI Academy in Nairobi, Dr Matiang’i revealed that the government had also recovered 5371 assorted ammunition.

He also noted that during the intense vetting exercise, the government revoked 36 licenses improperly issued to civilian firearm holders under the past gun licensing regimes.

The tough talking super minister said he was shocked one of the candidates who appeared for vetting showed up with five pistols and 14 assault rifles including four sophisticated weapons.

The CS affirmed that the vetting exercise will go on as scheduled, further warning that the March 7 deadline will not be extended.

However, the exercise will go on in other regions for 11 more days until March 18, 2019.

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According to the CS, civilians who will not have been appeared before the board and secured new licences will be considered criminals.

“Firearms owners must appear in person before the Board and avail their weapons and certificates for review without fail. After the deadline, we will act lawfully, but firmly, ” Dr Matiang’I said.

The vetting process is said to be involving psychiatric assessment by a Government psychologist, criminal record checks, and ballistic testing of the weapons and ammunition by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

“You can see the exercise is being done meticulously. Records are checked with the firm arm holders taking their weapons to the DCI headquarters for ballistic tests,” the CS said.

The vetting exercise that began three weeks ago in Nairobi has seen over 3,500 firearm holders vetted.

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