by Linda Straker
- Under amnesty conditions, person who surrenders gun will be identified
- Gun amnesty period starts on 1 May and ends on 30 July
- Firearms Act new section gives Minister for National Security power to declare 90-day gun amnesty
A gun amnesty period following the recent amendment to the Firearms Act, will start on 1 May and ends on 30 July. A Resolution to give effect to the Order for the gun amnesty will be presented for debate and approval during the 25 April sitting of the Lower House and the 26 April sitting of the Upper House.
The Resolution states that Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, also the Minister for National Security, is satisfied that the amnesty may result in the reduction of illegally possessed firearms or ammunition in Grenada.
According to the Order, all police stations and police headquarters will be collection points for the illegal firearms and ammunitions and the officers in charge or on duty will be responsible for receiving the firearms and ammunitions.
“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 ammunitions shall be recorded if the person wishes to utilise the anonymous process for the firearms amnesty,” the Order instructs.
An attorney will also be able to surrender firearms and ammunition on behalf of any person and that will also be allowed to be done as anonymous surrender. Once a firearm is surrendered, the serial number, type, make and model will be recorded and then forwarded to the designated officer at Police Headquarters.
During the Upper House debate to amend the Firearms Act to provide for the amnesty, Legal Affairs minister Claudette Joseph informed Members that firearms surrendered will be analysed and if the firearm is identified as one that was used in a criminal offence, it will be handed over to the police to assist them with solving the crime.
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.
Joseph who is also the Attorney General said that when the firearms are surrendered under the amnesty, ballistic analyses will take place to determine whether the firearm was 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, pointing out that under the amnesty conditions, the person who surrenders the gun will be identified.
A gun amnesty sounds like a good idea but, I can’t help thinking that a bit more effort should have gone into drafting the amnesty.
If you read these two quotes from the article:
“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 ammunitions shall be recorded if the person wishes to utilise the anonymous process for the firearms amnesty,” the Order instructs.
and:
“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, pointing out that under the amnesty conditions, the person who surrenders the gun will be identified.
Just how are you to identify the person who hands in a firearm
If they do it anonymously?
And what incentive will someone have to hand in a firearm if there’s a possibility of repercussions?