Non-lethal options to firearms should be considered – Jagdeo

Last Updated on Thursday, 2 October 2025, 21:49 by Writer

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said his government and Guyanese should consider whether permits should be issued for persons to carry non-lethal weapons instead of firearms.

“Is it possible to be more liberal with licences of a non-lethal nature so that is when you can meet a lot of the demand by giving people a tool that they can use for protection, as they claim, but it’s not lethal,” he said.

He said whenever government officials visit communities, they are inundated with requests by residents for their licences to be processed or the calibre of their weapons upgraded.

There is an estimated 50,000 outstanding gun licence applications, he said.

Mr Jagdeo suggested that there should be “a more discerning set of criteria” to determine who should be issued a firearm licence. “This something we heard a lot about and we intend to focus on it as a government. It has to be dealt with once and for all and our society has to deal with it, not just government,” he said.

Mr Jagdeo said efforts would have to be made to remove the claim that someone could be bribed to grant a licence, also called a gun permit in the United States.