A SHIPMENT of more than half a million rounds of ammunition, being imported by the Jamaica Rifle Association (JRA) gun club in St Andrew, has been ordered detained by the Government, pending an audit of the club's facility by the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA).

The Ministry of National Security confirmed on Friday that the FLA, as part of its monitoring and inspection programme, was in the process of conducting an audit of the JRA facility. As a result, the shipment of ammunition has been held.

Consignment stored by JDF

A high-ranking staff member at the security ministry has explained that security arrangements require the consignment to be stored at a Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) facility for safekeeping.

Chairman of the FLA, retired assistant commissioner of police, Errol Strong, confirmed that the shipment of ammunition would be taken to Up Park Camp upon its arrival in the island later this week.

Strong has expressed concerns over the security of the large cache of ammunition and firearms which are being stored at the headquarters of the JRA and the difficulty the FLA has had in completing an audit of the gun club.

"Our attempt to audit the weapons and ammo at the gun club has been very frustrating," Strong revealed.

Lax security measures

In the meantime, senior officials at the FLA are concerned that lax security measures governing the storage of ammunition at the JRA's range could result in bullets ending up on the streets.

The Sunday Gleaner news team made several attempts to speak with retired army officer, Colonel Audley Carter, of the JRA, but he indicated through the club's office manager, Audrey Charley, that he was not interested in speaking with The Sunday Gleaner.

However, Maurice Goodgame, director of the FLA's Audit and Complaints Branch, admitted that JRA security measures were not being observed. Inspectors from the FLA said they saw persons leaving the range without an ammunition check being done.

The Sunday Gleaner obtained a copy of the preliminary audit report into the operations of the JRA gun club, prepared by Goodgame, and it read in part: "The system of operation and the security measures outlined by the association seem quite good. Observation by the team did not coincide with those claims. The team was told that the security guard would check ammunition of persons entering and leaving the range, but the team saw persons leaving without this happening. One of the rifle association's members had more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in his lockers, most of which were .22."

The report also said: "The team was astonished when it learnt that the association did not know the types and numbers of firearms owned by its members, and that no internal inspection of the lockers is done. The audit will continue at a later date."

Hindered audit

The gun-licensing authority also slammed members of the rifle association, claiming that they had hindered the successful completion of the audit and inspection. The FLA argued that fewer than half of the 480 lockers being used by JRA members had been made available for audit and inspection, despite having been given sufficient notice.

"Over the two days, the team was only able to inspect 105 lockers, owned by 90 members, due to lack of cooperation by most of the members. The association was given a week's notice in the first instance and three weeks in the second."

The lockers, each having a unique number, are rented to members for the storage of their firearms and ammunition. They are secured with padlocks and only the owners have access to them.

Stand-off

Goodgame wrote to Colonel Audley Carter, president of the JRA, on November 5, 2008, informing him of the pending audit and inspection on the 15th of the same month.

The writing was on the wall that a stand-off was in the making when Carter responded five days later.

His letter stated: "We have examined the Firearms Act and we are unable to locate any provision therein which authorises your personnel to carry out searches without the benefit of a search warrant and, as we are sure that you are well aware, the individual lockers within the Jamaica Rifle Association would be akin to a safety-deposit box in a bank vault. Therefore, a blanket search warrant would not be appropriate.

"It would appear that in order for your personnel to gain access to the lockers, for which consent cannot be obtained, you will be required to obtain individual search warrants for each locker."

However, Carter informed the FLA that "the majority" of the association's members had indicated that they had no difficulty in voluntarily allowing their lockers and firearms to be audited and inspected. That did not happen.

The association is said to have a membership of approximately 1,000, which continues to grow.