Grenada to debate gun amnesty

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada, CMC – Legislators in Grenada will on Thursday begin a debate on a resolution giving effect to a gun amnesty from May 1 to July 30 this year.

Parliament recently approved an amendment to the Firearms Act, and according to the Order paper circulated for Thursday's meeting, the legislators will debate a resolution giving effect to the amnesty.

The following day members of the Senate will also meet to debate the resolution that states, in part, that Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, who is also the Minister for National Security, is satisfied that the amnesty may result in the reduction of illegally possessed firearms or ammunition in Grenada.

The amendment to the Firearms Act introduced a new section that will give the Minister for National Security the power to declare a gun amnesty for 90 days.

According to the Order, all police stations and police headquarters will be collection points for illegal firearms and ammunition and that the officers in charge or on duty will be responsible for receiving the items.

“A person shall not be required to disclose his or her identity or any information when surrendering a firearm or ammunition, as the case may be, and no details of the person who surrendered the said firearm or ammunition shall be recorded if the person wishes to utilise the anonymous process for the firearms amnesty.”

The legislation will also allow for an attorney being able to surrender firearms and ammunition on behalf of any person as well as allowing for such surrender to be done anonymously.

Once a firearm is surrendered the serial number, type, make and model it will be recorded and then be forwarded to the designated officer at police headquarters.

During the Upper House debate to amend the Firearms Act, Legal Affairs Minister Claudette Joseph had informed legislators that when firearms are surrendered under the amnesty, ballistic analyses will take place to determine whether the guns were used in the commission of an offence.

“And of course if the firearm surrendered is found to have been used in the commission of an offence, that firearm will then form evidence and assist the police in investigating and solving the crime,” she said.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.