13th week of festive firing clampdown sees 74 land in police net

AMMAN — The Public Security Department (PSD) on Wednesday announced the arrest of 74 individuals in various parts of the Kingdom during the 13th week of its ongoing campaign against illegal firearms and festive firing.

"The arrested suspects, including two minors, were reportedly found in possession of 91 unlicensed firearms," said Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi.

There have been a total of 1,090 suspects arrested since the start of the campaign on June 27, with around 1,280 illegal weapons found, Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

"All the arrested suspects were referred to the concerned authorities for legal prosecution," the police official added.

According to a statement by the PSD, the campaign is ongoing, while the public are urged to report any incident of shooting anonymously. 

The PSD recently renewed its campaign targeting celebratory firing and possession of unlicensed firearms in an effort to curb the phenomenon. Authorities pledged to adopt the "most severe legal and administrative measures possible" against perpetrators of festive firing.

The statement also promised to conduct campaigns throughout the governorates, ready to arrest any person in possession of a firearm without a licence, as well as those selling weapons and ammunition specifically for celebratory firing.

Additionally, the PSD statement thanked the "many citizens who cooperated with the authorities by reporting some illegal festive shootings, which helped the authorities to capture many of the violators", while urging the public to continue to report any illegal festive shooting to the police through their unified number, 911.