PRESIDENT of the Prisons Officers Association Ceron Richards said while he is thankful the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2022 was passed in the Senate on Wednesday morning, he wants to highlight what he says is the clear fact that every prison officer in the country is under threat by the very nature of their job.

The Bill was passed after the committee went through 11 clauses proposed and removed Clause 10 which would have allowed the Minister of National Security to extend the life of a firearm user's license (FUL).

The bill will allow the Prisons Commissioner authority to grant FULs to prison officers deemed to be under threat. Additionally, the director of the Strategic Security Agency (a State-run surveillance and intelligence-gathering agency) is also empowered to to give agency members the legal right to be armed.

Richards said what is more important than the threat assessment will be the officer's ability to possess a firearm outside of work, an issue many senators raised during the debate.

'I hope that the process to which these officers are to be screened to the armed, is one that's fair, transparent and really does what it is geared towards doing. We believe all officers, if found suitable enough through some rigid criteria, should be armed because all prison officers are under threat.'

Richards added that the threat assessment board has not operated to the satisfaction of all prison officers in the past, with many believing that FULs were issued based on relationships and not on assessments. He hopes this will not be the case with the passage of the legislation.

He said the real assessment should be whether an officer is willing and fit to carry a gun and not whether or not their lives are under threat since every prison officer's life is threatened by the nature of their job.

'It is not the threat that should be addressed, what should be addressed is the officer's suitability to carry the facility. Is he responsible enough, does he have sound judgement, physical and in mind, whether or not the family is comfortable with him. That is what should be assessed not whether or not the officer is under threat or not because once you put on the uniform, you are under threat.'

During earlier debate, Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial and Independent Senator Paul Richards objected to the Clause 10 citing the danger of a politician being having the same powers as the Police Commissioner to extend the life of an FUL.

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