Statement

WEIR PRESSES POLICE ON PERSONAL PROTECTION WEAPONS 

Posted on: July 20, 2009

Statement by Cllr Peter Weir DUP MLA following a meeting with Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland and party colleagues David Simpson MP, Stephen Moutray MLA, Jimmy Spratt MLA and Tom Buchanan MLA 

“I am deeply concerned at the refusal of many applications for former security force members to renew their personal protection weapon permission. The position adopted by government and the senior ranks of the police clearly sends out a mixed message and is fundamentally flawed. On the one hand the Chief Constable tells us that the threat from dissident republicans is severe and the most serious it has been for many years, then refuses to renew PPWs unless there is a specific threat to the life of the applicant. Yet the nature of the threat by dissidents is unspecific in its nature. No-one anticipated the location or nature of the threat to Antrim Army barracks, and simply the fact that former police officers or soldiers have not as yet been attacked, will be of little comfort to them or their families. In the past republicans were perfectly willing to attack former members of the security forces, feeling that they were more vulnerable, and their guard was down, and I see no higher level of scruples amongst the current crop of terrorists. 

The actions of the police and government, are leaving many former security force members, particularly in border areas feeling vulnerable and betrayed. It is undermining community confidence in the security situation. There are only about 950 former police officers with PPWs, and indeed the total number of PPWs in Northern Ireland is only about 3500, so I don’t believe that these people should be difficult to accommodate. Many of these former officers live in North Down, and so there is particular concern here. The Police may interpret the current policy in a more flexible manner, but that does not take away from the fact that the policy itself is wrong. I urge the police to think again and change course before it is too late. This is an issue we will be continuing to press at a political level.”