"A gun is not a toy," judge rejects gun owner's plea

The high court has dismissed an application by a licensed gun holder who sought to stop his prosecution after being charged with threatening to kill a business rival.

High Court Judge George Odunga Thursday ruled that, “a licensed fire arm holder must handle his or her fire arm within the stipulated regulations of the licenser.”

He said “a gun is not a toy nor a flywhisk which you can brandish anywhere, anyhow. Its handling must come with responsibility,” as he ruled in a petition by Nairobi businessman Bryan Yongo who was seeking to stop his prosecution in a criminal case pending before a Kibera court where he is alleged to have threatened to kill Cortec Mining Kenya country director Jacob Juma.

The judge said, it is the very powerful people in the society who are always holders of firearms and therefore, they have a duty to know that there are regulations to govern firearm use.

He added that any fire arm holder, must respect the rights of others in a manner he expects to be respected.

“The firearm is meant to protect both the holder and those around him or her, in cases where there is threat to life. The gun cannot however, be used to threaten members of the public,” the judge said.

THREATENING TO KILL

Mr Yongo had been charged before a Kibera court with threatening to kill and preparing to commit a felony. He denied the charges and was released on a cash bail of Sh200,000 and Sh250,000 respectively.

The prosecution alleged that Mr Yongo and four others namely Patrick Ochieng, Pascal Ouma, Kennedy Otieno and Simon Otira, had intended to kill the Cortec director at his residence in Nairobi on November 8, 2014.

Mr Yongo however, declined to plead to the charge of illegal possession of a firearm saying that he had obtained orders from the High Court stopping the police from withdrawing his firearm.

The case at the Kibera Law Court will be heard on February 10, 2015.