It is reported that police’s department for firearms and private security organisation is currently halting issuance of license to obtain personal guns to more than 700 applicants. Security officers at Naguru intimate that about 300 out of the more than 700 pending private gun applicants are residents of Wakiso District.
Senior Superintendent of Police –SSP Apollo Kateeba, who is the acting Commissioner for firearms and private security department, was a few months ago quoted by the media saying that more than 3,000 guns are in the hands of individuals.
These figures raise a question of what could be driving people to acquire personal guns. Grace Matsiko, a security analyst and chairperson of The Uganda Private Security Association –TUPSA, says one of the major reasons driving people to acquire private guns is the faded sense of security at a personal level.
Matsiko explains that people have resorted to acquiring individual guns because they feel police won’t be there in time to protect them in case they are attacked. Locals, according to Matsiko, feel that police would take time to arrive to their rescue in case of an attack.
“We have discovered that the applicants do not see security at a personal level. People see police not responding in time to their alarms. That is the key motive. Personal security is one of the outstanding reasons,” says Matsiko.
Other reasons why people are getting personal guns include the nature of the work they do. Matsiko says some jobs make people move to various places which they presume to be a threat to their life. The history of threats that people have been getting over the years is another factor making people rush to apply for guns.
But in an earlier interview, SSP Kateeba, said police does not accept any applicant to acquire a gun. According to Kateeba, there must be genuine and verified reasons considered before one is given leeway to procure a private gun.
Kateeba adds that in order to keep track of ownership, police finger prints every gun owner and electronically register its details. “Every gun that is acquired has to be finger printed on you so that if you use it to commit a crime, we shall know that this gun belongs to you. We need to know why gun are needed,” Kateeba said.
The procedures of acquiring a private gun include obtaining a clearance form from police firearms and private security department, the form is then delivered to revenue office where a person acquires new forms after paying in the bank money not exceeding 60,000 shillings.
The Local Council One up to LC3 as well as the Resident District Commissioner –RDC must approve the application before the forms are submitted to the Inspector General of Police –IGP who also approves and then shares it to the Minister for Internal Affairs –MIA who has the final say on whether to approve or reject the application.
All data concerning guns in the hands of individuals, police and private security organisations is kept in the directorate of forensic science headed by Superintendent of Police Andrew Mubiru. It is only UPDF, CMI, SFC and JATT whose guns have not been electronically registered.