Samoa Police to raise awareness on gun safety

Transcript

Police in Samoa are trying to raise more awareness around gun safety after a fatal shooting last week.

Investigations are continuing into the incident in which a 9 year-old boy was accidentally shot  by his 10 year-old cousin.

Samoa Police say the incident has highlighted a need for more awareness on gun issues.

Indira Moala has more.

Police Commissioner Egon Keil says no charges have been laid following the death of the  young boy in Siumu. Mr Keil says the 12-gauge shotgun his cousin fired was unregistered and there were no adults at the scene. He says it is unfortunate that the gun had not been kept in a safe place.

EGON KEIL: The kids were horse-playing and one of the kids got a hold of the rifle and accidentally, or we don't know for sure if it was done purposefully, but he pulled the trigger. But of course it wasn't intended to kill the 9-year-old.

The editor of the Samoa Observer Newspaper Mata'afa Keni Lesa says there have been similar fatalities before and there needs to be more education on gun safety. Police say a person can only apply for a gun licence if he or she is a farmer or a member of a shooting club. But Mata'afa suspects there are many people in Samoa who do not meet the legal requirements of gun ownership.

MATA'AFA KENI LESA: You know, of course in Samoa because we've all got large amounts of lands, anybody can claim that they've got a farm. So therefore, they can have a gun. You know just about every family who claims to have a plantation will have a gun. And a lot of those people don't understand about proper gun safety.

However, the police's assistant arms officer Todd Iosefa says there are strict requirements for people wanting to obtain a gun licence. He says applicants are given a safety handbook and must attend a safety presentation.

TODD IOSEFA: They need to have police clearance, they have no previous convictions, their three character references and plus you have to have medical clearance as well. After we do the presentation then they have to sit a test, a written test and a practical test as well.

Mr Iosefa says the police are trying to raise more awareness around gun safety.

TODD IOSEFA: We're trying to raise some more awareness around safety rules. The using of firearms and leaving the firearms unattended. And the negligence of people that have a license but are not looking after their firearms properly.

In the case of last week's fatal shooting, Police Commissioner Egon Keil says there are no plans to bring charges of negligence.