No database to track the number of registered guns – Small Arms Commission

Executive Director for Small Arms Commission, Jones Applerh has hinted that the Commission has no centralized computer system for tracking the number of registered guns in the country.

He added that the non-availability of this database makes it difficult for police personnel to keep track of registered guns in the country.

According to him, the Arms and Ammunition Act of Ghana places no limit on the number of weapons one can own unlike places “like South Africa where the maximum number of guns a person can own is 5”.

“In Ghana, for instance, our law is silent on the number of weapons one can own and so there is no way if you are a registered gun owner in Accra, Kumasi police will know”.

In his opinion, the growing sense of insecurity is as a result of a rise in the numbers of weapons available in the country.

Speaking on The Pulse with Gifty Andoh Appiah, Jones Applerh revealed that “reports from the police database states there has been a 74.4% increase in the number of people who are licensing revolvers and pistol as of  January-June 2019 and 2020”.

His response is in connection with the recent development of a police officer arrested for aiding a suspected armed robber to acquire a license for that gun.