• Lawyer Agortey has advised those who own guns to get a permit
• He said, the permit stipulates how the weapon is to be used
• He was speaking on Joy News
Bernard Agortey, a private legal practitioner, has urged the public to flaunt their weapons in accordance with the permit that has been given to do so.
According to him, persons who flaunt ammunitions without permission or requisite licenses commit an offence and can be prosecuted.
Lawyer Agortey, who was speaking on Joy News’ ‘The Law’ show with Samson Anyenini said, persons who owe any form of weapon has a duty to ensure that they are legally licensed and registered before they can proceed to use them.
He said, the purposes for using a registered gun should be clearly defined in a permit which is issued by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
“We are not saying that if you have a registered gun, you cannot discharge it. You can discharge it and use it in accordance with the permit that has been given you. You have a permit but the permit will have its limits, it will have a time frame.”
“If you read the law on possession, generally, when you are caught with the prohibited gun, the onus is on you to come and show that you have a permit to use the way you are using it or to hold it the way you are holding it,” Lawyer Bernard Agortey explained.
Where guns and other weapons are used for traditional functions, Lawyer Agortey bemoaned must be done in accordance with a police permit.
The conversation about wielding guns was premised on the arrest of Ghanaian rapper, Medikal, who was arrested by the Ghana Police Service.
“I don’t know why we are now getting here in terms of public discourse on this matter because almost every year, we hear of people dying during festivals or funerals of stray bullets coming from chiefs and people following chiefs all in the name of culture.
“The law is express that whether it is for ceremonial purposes or for movie purposes, you need a license to hold it. There is a lot of sense in this law because a gun, today, can be a weapon for a movie or even during that movie, it can be the subject matter of a crime,” Lawyer Bernard Agortey stated.