KINGSTON, Jamaica, November 14, The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn has ruled that charges could be laid against Opposition legislator Phillip Paulwell, whose licensed firearm had been stolen from his vehicle in July.
Llewellyn is reported to have confirmed that she had ruled in the matter regarding Paulwell, the opposition spokesman on energy and a senior official of the main opposition People’s National Party (PNP). He is also the Leader of the Opposition Business in the House of Representatives.
Paulwell told the Jamaica Observer newspaper he is hoping that the person who stole his licensed firearm will use the present gun amnesty to hand it over to the police. The amnesty, which began on November 5, ends on November 19.
He told the newspaper that one evening in early July, as he was heading home, he had to make an emergency stop.
“I stopped for less than eight minutes, and by the time I came out, I saw that the back window of my vehicle was smashed and when I rushed to the car, I saw that the bag which had in my pouch with my firearm was gone.
“The bag was on the floor of the vehicle because that is where I would normally [keep it] when my security person is driving the vehicle,” Paulwell told the newspaper, adding that he reported the theft to the police immediately and gave a statement to the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA).
Under the amnesty, illegal guns can be handed over to a sub-officer or senior sub-officer on duty at any police station, any designated officer at an FLA location; or to an attorney-at-law or pastor on behalf of an individual seeking the amnesty.
“I am urging everybody to take in the illegal guns, including that person or persons who would have been involved in the stealing of my own firearm in early July. I am saying to them, take back my gun and give it to the authority. It is a very old firearm. I have had it for more than 20 years,” said Paulwell, who insisted that he was not careless in the loss of the gun.
“You know, these things, they are normally seen as negligence, but I wasn’t negligent. I was dealing with an emergency. I locked my vehicle, rushed inside, and when I came back, the window was smashed,” declared Paulwell.
Under section 74 of the Firearms (Prohibition Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022, the holder of a firearm permit shall ensure that each firearm and all ammunition are safely stored “in accordance with such standards as shall be prescribed so that no other person can gain access to the firearm or ammunition.”
Paulwell is expected to be charged later this week.
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