The National police service started the biometric registration of all government firearms held by the National police Reservists (NPR) in Samburu County.
Samburu police commander Karanja Muiruri said that the biometric registration will help the government to know how many legal firearms are being held by NPRs in Samburu County.
He noted some NPRsissued with guns decades ago, bequeathed them to their sons without following the law.
He added that the out dated Mark4 riffles are still in use in Samburu County and there is need to replace them since their bullets are no longer manufactured.
He said that the registration exercise requires a reservist to produce a national identity card, KRA pin and his firearm which will then be rebranded and registered afresh in the police database.
“We will register all firearms, rebrand them and service them. The old M4 riffles will also be replaced with the latest models,” he said.
He added that the exercise will help in tracking down criminals using ballistic records in the police database and dispelled rumours that the exercise is meant to disarm NPRs.
Muiruri urged residents to surrender illegal firearms warning they will be prosecuted if found.
By Robert Githu
