Kent Brown seeks $8.8m from FLA over firearms licence renewal dispute

Businessman Kent Brown has taken the Firearm Licensing Authority to court, seeking almost $9 million in special damages over claims that the agency approved his licence renewals but did not provide the certificates he needed to continue operating his firearms businesses.

The claim was brought in March 2022, while the FLA filed its defence in 2023. No date has so far been fixed for the matter to be heard.

“We’re waiting on the Supreme Court registry. We have filed our pleadings and it’s a very strong case,” said Hugh Wildman, Brown’s attorney.

Court papers reviewed by The Gleaner state that Brown, who has held several roles in the firearms sector, including licence holder, gunsmith, range operator, dealer and trainer, is claiming $8.8 million in special damages. He is also asking the court for aggravated damages, general damages, interest under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provision) Act, legal costs and any further orders the court considers appropriate.

Brown contends that negligence by the FLA resulted in the shutdown of Kent Brown Tactical Training Center and KBA Dealers Jamaica Limited. The businesses operated from Shop 9, 137 Maxfield Avenue, Kingston 10, and Temple Hall in St Andrew.

In his affidavit, Brown said the licensing body had renewed the relevant licences but did not issue the corresponding dealer certificates. He further claimed that the FLA did not answer repeated requests for the certificates and gave him no explanation for why they had not been produced.

Brown said he first received a firearm user’s licence in 1987. He stated that he obtained a firearms trainer’s licence sometime in 2006 and opened Kent Brown Tactical Training Center around 2007 or 2008.

He said KBA Dealers Jamaica Limited, a firearms dealership, was established a few years later, around September 2011. Brown maintained that, up to the time the lawsuit was filed, the company had been operating and its licences had been renewed “successfully and continuously” for 11 years.

According to Brown, certificates are issued by the FLA after licence renewals and those documents authorise the business operations. With those certificates, he said, he was able to bring in firearms, ammunition, parts, accessories and other related items for the business.

Brown said that on or about May 7, 2021, he applied to renew several licences. These included two dealer licences tied to the Maxfield Avenue and Temple Hall locations, his gunsmith licence for both sites and his firearm user’s licences.

He said he submitted the required documents and paid the necessary $450,000 fee. Brown also claimed the renewals were granted that same day and that the renewal forms were stamped to show the licences had been approved for renewal.

After that, he said, he waited for the renewed licence certificates to be prepared and issued.

Brown stated that on or about May 17, 2021, he wrote to the FLA asking when the certificates would be ready for him to collect. Two days later, he said, he emailed the authority’s director of certifications and applications, but received no reply. A letter from Wildman to the FLA was also not answered, according to the claim.

The lawsuit states: “Having not been supplied with the certificates, the claimant (Brown) has suffered considerable loss in not being able to operate his business in the absence of the certificates. KBA Dealers Jamaica Limited, on average, annually makes $120,000,000.”

Brown’s attorneys argue that the FLA owed him a duty of care because, after approving the renewals, the authority should have understood that he would manage his business on the basis that the certificates would follow. They say that duty was breached when the documents were not issued.

“The defendant knew, or ought to have known, that by failing to produce the said certificates, the claimant would not be able to operate КВА Dealers Jamaica Limited,” the court documents said.

The claim also says the FLA knew, or should have known, that without the certificates Brown could not import, sell or trade in firearms.

“As a result of the defendant's negligence in the non-production of the certificates, the claimant has suffered loss and incurred considerable expense,” the lawsuit said.

Brown’s special damages claim includes $954,000 in Jamaica Public Service charges, $648,000 for Internet service and closed user group costs, $240,000 in KingAlarm monitoring and response fees, $5.2 million for salaries and severance, $1.26 million for rent and maintenance, and $522,000 for company motor vehicle expenses.

The FLA, however, has rejected Brown’s case. In a nine-page response submitted through its chief executive officer, Shane Dalling, the authority said Brown’s renewal forms were not stamped “approved for renewal”.

Dalling said approval of a licence or certificate renewal can only be given by the FLA board. He said any stamp placed on the application forms stating approved for renewal was used only for administrative purposes.

The FLA also denied owing Brown a duty of care and said that, on that basis, no breach could have occurred. The agency denied all allegations not expressly admitted and said Brown must prove his claims before the court.