IC: FLA ‘manipulated’ database and dead man logged in ammo purchase; server crash wiped key evidence

A Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) database was “manipulated” to record an ammunition purchase by a dead man, and the server holding evidence of who gave the order has been destroyed, says an Integrity Commission report. 

The 131-page report, tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, found that the FLA's Licence Management System (LMS) was “manipulated by the FLA and it appears that inaccurate information was inputted”. 

The FLA in a response to the IC said it strongly refuted the allegation, even as it acknowledged that the entries were made and no supporting documents presented to the IC. 

The report noted that one of the purchases was attributed to a man who had been dead for 25 days before the transaction was logged.

But the email trail that could have established who gave the order to make the false entries was lost when the FLA's server crashed, and could not be recovered, the report said. 

"Despite extensive efforts and the application of all available resources, the project to recover the lost data was ultimately unsuccessful," FLA CEO Shane Dalling told investigators in a January 2025 statement. He has been at the helm since June 2017. 

The report said Director of Information Systems Christopher Christie had previously disclosed in a 2023 statement that the server for the period "experienced a catastrophic failure and has been decommissioned since 2019." 

There was no backup, Christie added. 

The Integrity Commission’s Director of Investigation (DI) Kevon Stephenson concluded that the instruction to input, and the act of inputting, what appears to be fabricated information into the system "prima facie constitute a breach of section 5 of the Cybercrimes Act". 

But he said no referral for prosecution could be made, given the evidentiary gap the server failure created.

The manipulated records show four entries dated July 11, 2018, purportedly recording the purchase of 6,000 rounds of 12-gauge bird hunting ammunition from businessman Kent Brown's dealership by three individuals.

According to the report, former FLA Database Administrator Shevon Robinson is identified in the LMS records as the person who made the entries. 

Robinson told investigators he acted on instructions received "either by email or memo from the Director of Information Systems and Technology Department or the Chief Executive Officer," but said he could not say which of the two gave the order.

Those emails, the critical link in the chain of command, were reportedly on the server that crashed. 

Two of the alleged purchasers said they did not engage in any such transactions. 

One had died on June 16, 2018, some 25 days before the entries were logged, and held only a temporary licence at the time of his death that would not have permitted him to purchase ammunition. 

The other two told investigators they made no such purchases. 

The National Environment and Planning Agency confirmed none of the three held valid hunting permits for 2018.

The report concludes that the manipulation was sufficient basis for "a reasonable and detached observer to form the view that Kent Brown was targeted by the FLA." 

Brown, owner of KBA Dealers Jamaica Limited and the Kent Brown Tactical Training Centre, told investigators that former senior FLA compliance officer Elsworth Callum called him in 2018 or 2019 and demanded $2 million for his business "to continue operating smoothly." 

Brown said he refused: "I told him that I was not going to pay him any money. He then said 'ok if that's your decision'." 

The commission’s Director of Investigation found no evidence to support or contradict that allegation.

Brown's two businesses ultimately closed, KBTTC in July 2021 and KBA Dealers in February 2022, after the FLA withheld his licence certificates despite his renewal applications being stamped as approved. 

His licences were formally revoked in February 2024. 

A Supreme Court bid to compel the FLA to issue the certificates was dismissed.

Dalling was presented with the DI's findings before publication, the DI said. 

Dalling noted in  March 24, 2026 letter, objecting to the publication of the report that the organisation learned of the allegations for the first time at a meeting with IC officials in March 19. He rejected the allegations. 

The IC said his written response contained no evidence that would alter the conclusions or recommendations. It commenced the probe in 2021. 

The tabling follows a protracted legal and parliamentary battle after The Sunday Gleaner first reported on May 17 that the report was submitted to the presiding officers at Gordon House on March 30 but remained untabled. 

There was no injunction blocking tabling at any point, but Gordon House explained that it would be “inappropriate” to act after getting correspondence from FLA’s lawyers that they were challenging the report in court. 

The FLA had filed an urgent application in the Supreme Court around April 7, naming the IC and Stephenson as respondents and seeking disclosure of the unpublished report. 

A source at the authority said the FLA "strongly disagreed with the findings" and believed publication would cause "irreparable reputational harm."

On May 29, the Supreme Court dismissed the FLA's disclosure application but granted permission to appeal. 

September 17 has been set for hearing the FLA's application for permission to seek judicial review of the IC's investigative processes. 

The legal proceedings also triggered a political standoff, with Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson declaring that he and Speaker Juliet Holness would not "bow to any intimidation or threat" after Opposition Leader Mark Golding threatened legal action.

On May 21, Golding warned he would instruct King's Counsel Michael Hylton to initiate court proceedings if the report was not tabled at the next sittings of both Houses. 

Hylton argued that the reasons submitted for not tabling the FLA report could be successfully challenged in court.

Constitutional lawyer Dr Lloyd Barnett took the contrary view, saying Parliament's decision to withhold the report while the matter was before the court was proper.