Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, warned that people who sell, buy, or possess Tasers could face criminal prosecution and imprisonment, arguing the devices fall under the Firearms Act as prohibited weapons.
Nandlall addressed the issue during this week’s Issues in the News after he said a journalist had questioned him about reports of Taser devices being sold at commercial establishments in Guyana.
“If that is ongoing in Guyana, let me say that it is absolutely unlawful and constitutes a criminal offence under the Firearms Act,” the Attorney General said.
He based his position on Section 32 of the Firearms Act, which restricts, without the required authority, the manufacture, sale, transfer, purchase, acquisition or possession of specified prohibited weapons.
Nandlall said he considers Tasers to fall within the provision dealing with weapons designed or adapted to discharge a “noxious liquid, gas, or other thing.”
In his interpretation, the words “other thing” can encompass an electrical current discharged by a Taser.
“I am of the considered view that Taser and Taser weapons and Taser guns fall into Category B and/or C of the prohibition stated in Section 32 of the Firearms Act,” he said.
The Firearms Act defines prohibited weapons by reference to Section 32, while the section sets out restrictions governing the possession and other dealings involving such weapons.
To support his interpretation, Nandlall pointed to British firearms legislation containing similar wording and the English case Flack v Baldry, which dealt with an electrical stun device.
British case law ultimately established that an electrical stun device could fall within the prohibition covering a weapon that discharges a “noxious thing.”
Nandlall also pointed to Guyana’s Police (Amendment) Act of 2021, which introduced “less lethal weapons” into the Police Act.
The amendment specifically includes “conducted electrical weapons, including a taser or stun gun” among less-lethal weapons available for police use.
Nandlall argued that the fact that legislation had to expressly provide authority for police use further supported his interpretation that members of the general public do not automatically have authority to possess the devices.
“If the police had to get an amendment of the Police Act to use Taser guns and equipment listed here, it applies with greater force that the layman does not have the legal authority to possess such a weapon,” he said.
The Attorney General said a person convicted summarily of an offence under the relevant provision could face a fine of between $50,000 and $100,000 together with imprisonment of between three and six years.
A conviction on indictment could attract a prison sentence ranging from 10 to 15 years, according to the provision cited by Nandlall. Those penalties are also reflected in the Firearms Act amendments governing contraventions of Section 32.
“So if you sell, you buy, you acquire, you have in your possession this prohibited weapon, then it’s an offence under the Act,” Nandlall said.
