MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) is clamping down on domestic disputes involving owners of legal firearms by swiftly investigating and revoking the licences of gun holders where necessary.

“What is trending as it relates to firearms, is domestic violence,” FLA Chief Executive Officer Shane Dalling told the monthly meeting of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce last Thursday.

“Last year alone, we had four murder-suicides by licensed firearm holders, and that was an unfortunate trend; but had it not been for some of our intervention, it [murder-suicides] would have been far more. Persons have reported to us threats of their spouses using violence on them, and so we have had to call in the holders once we get the report and to take the weapons away from them,” Dalling said.

“What we do is take away the weapons and conduct an investigation into the circumstances. We have sought at all times to protect the complainant, so we might not be able to tell the [firearm] holder specifically that their wife or husband reported that this is the case. We may say that we got reports from the neighbours that there are loud noises at nights, confrontations. ‘What is happening?’ and sometimes we speak to the very complainant who lodged the complaint, but she says no, ‘my husband is a loving person’. She has to say that for the record, but she gives a statement and we check around,” said Dalling, adding that the FLA has to protect people from domestic violence.

“I can’t forget a case I had where someone called me and said ‘Mr Dalling, you see this man (firearm holder) is a decent gentleman, I don’t know who could have told a bad report on him. She said the man comes to church every Sunday with his wife… is only the wife could tell me that he is a bad person’ and I said ‘well, leave it at that’. The wife will complain that he is loving when they are outside but when he gets inside, he is a monster and she was fearful, so we have to protect in those situations,” Dalling recounted.

“The 31st of December is a day that Mandeville will remember. I was overseas when Superintendent Francis called me to say that we have a case here of a suspected licensed holder involved in a shooting… I had to use my remote access to the system to check the information that the Superintendent provided and [the person] was indeed a licensed holder,” said Dalling.

He said the authority is now giving special attention to the issue of individuals with a temper being granted firearm licences.

“We  are are encouraging persons, once you hear or have any inclination that the person has issues like those, please report it to us… we have placed the information on our website to say that we are focusing on the issue of domestic violence. It cannot be taken lightly,” Dalling said.

“The person you share such intimate moments with will turn that very weapon on you, and it is very serious… almost every day we get the reports. Once there is some form of infidelity, the firearm is brought into play,” he said.

Since New Year’s Eve there have been at least four incidents of domestic violence that have claimed the lives of five women in Manchester, St Catherine, and St Elizabeth.

The incident in St Catherine was a murder-suicide involving 35-year-old Jamaica Defence Force Corporal Doran McKenzie who shot dead his common-law wife, 34-year-old Suianne Easy, in Portmore, after which he turned the gun on himself.

The other victims were 24-year-old Shantel Whyte, who was shot by her lover in Manchester; 27-year-old Nevia Sinclair, who was stabbed to death, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, at her home in Brinkley, St Elizabeth; and Shanika Dixon and her friend Ilora Mullings, who were shot, allegedly by a man who was said to be in a relationship with Dixon, in Manchester.