NEW OFENSSIVE WEAPONS ACT UNDERWAY TO ADDRESS THE USE OF WIRE CATAPULT
By CHARLIE DUMAVI
A new Act of Parliament is being finalised to address the use of offensive weapons, including the ‘silent killer’ wire catapult.
This was stated by the Police Minster, Sir John Pundari in Parliament last Tuesday when responding to questions asked by Governor for Morobe, Rainbo Paita who stated that the growing use of wire catapult and other offensive weapons in the communities is concerning as he questioned the government through Sir John on their plans to address the issue.
In response, Sir John stated that a new Offensive Weapons Act is being prepared and will soon be brought to Parliament.
“A collaborative effort with our good Attorney General, we are about to finalise a new offensive weapons act to address (the use of) all offensive weapons in the country,” Sir John said.
“Not just wire catapults but bush knives and all other weapons that inflict harm on our citizens and are used to cause crimes in societies. They are no longer going to be summary offenses. The new act that we will bring to Parliament will come with severe penalties and punishment for anyone that uses those weapons. Also, those weapons are not for public places.”
He said this includes the use of traditional harmful weapons like bows and arrows.
“Traditional harmful weapons also become powerful tools for the criminals today. They (criminals) are improvising on that and causing a lot of violent activities that are harming a lot of our citizens and we need to address that.
Anyone found with these offensive weapons; the full force of the new law will be applied on them.”
Recently wire catapult has been commonly used in Wewak and parts of East Sepik province, causing death and harm to citizens.
