By: Thaimu Bai Sesay
On Friday 1st September, 2023, the Sierra Leone Commission on Arms and Ammunition (SLeCAA) has in a press release strongly warned gunsmiths or gun repairers, illegally producing or repairing shotguns in the country to either stop or risk facing the full penalty of the law.
“The attention of the Sierra Leone Commission on Arms and Ammunition (SLeCAA) has been drawn to local artisans or blacksmiths engaged in the production and repair of shotguns without a valid license issue by the Register and Commissioner of SLeCAA. These craftsmen are a major threat to the security of Sierra Leone and are contributing hugely to the illegal proliferation of small arms and ammunition,” the Commission noted.
Referencing the constitutional mandate, the Sierra Leone Commission on Arms and Ammunition wished to inform that the Commission was established by an Act of Parliament in 2010 to regulate the manufacture, sale, possession and use of small arms and light weapons. It added that Section 32 subsection 1 of the SLeCAA Act of 2023 mandated the Commission to regulate the manufacture and sale of guns in Sierra Leone.
“A person shall not manufacture or offer for sale arms or their manufacturing materials within Sierra Leone except on a valid license issue by the Commissioner for that purpose,” (Section 32(1)) of the Commission’s Act stated.
As a step towards addressing the illegal production of shotguns, the Commission intimated that local gun manufacturers and stakeholders in the security architecture could recall that in 2020, the Government of Sierra Leone supported the Commission to conduct a national survey of local gun manufacturer. The Commission furthered that the survey captured a total of 377 unlicensed local gun manufacturers and repairers and went on noting that out of that number, 138 were local gun manufacturers whilst the remaining 239 were repairers.
“The Commission wishes to make it categorically clear that, since that survey was conducted in 2020, it has not issued license to any blacksmith or gunsmith for the production of shotguns. Therefore, the Commission is calling all those involve in the illegal production and repair of shotguns to stop forthwith,” SLeCAA strongly warned.
The Commission reinforced that anyone found in the production and repairs of shotguns without a valid license issued by the Register for that purpose, that person would be prosecuted and the full penalty of the law will be enforced as prescribed in Section 32 subsection 1 of of the SLeCAA Act of 2023, which stated that ‘A person who contravenes subsection (7) commits an offense and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten thousand new Leones (10,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both such fine and imprisonment”