In order to reduce surges in gun crime and weapons smuggling in the 15-nation Caricom bloc, officials of the Caribbean Community have decided to establish prohibitions on assault-style guns, which are mostly made in the US.
The decision was made late on Tuesday following a two-day symposium on crime in Trinidad. The prohibitions would necessitate both legislative revisions and adjustments to the licensing laws.
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The leaders of the Caribbean region convened a roundtable discussion on the subject in response to complaints from a number of nations about an uptick in gangland violence, which was made worse by the accessibility of powerful, military-style weaponry that was mostly smuggled from the US.
The recent rise in homicides committed with firearms has drawn complaints from Jamaica, Trinidad, The Bahamas, St. Lucia, and Barbados.
Reporters were briefed by the summit’s organizer and host, Prime Minister Keith Rowley, after a significant number of leaders of state and government had left, “Caricom heads have agreed today to take a decision to ban the use and presence of assault weapons in the civilian population of our nations.
”The move came just a few weeks after several member nations announced plans to join with Mexico to sue American gun manufacturers over the weapons smuggled into their countries.”
According to Phillip Davis, the prime minister of the Bahamas and chairman of Caricom, 98.6% of illicit guns found in his nation could be linked to the United States, 87.7% in Haiti, and 67% in Jamaica.
He noted that Jamaica had a startling homicide rate of 52.9 per 100,000 people, which is far higher than the global average of 7.5 per 100,000.
Davis lacked data on the proportion of confiscated firearms that were assault-style weapons as opposed to pistols or other firearms that would not be subject to this week’s planned prohibition.
According to Rowley, the Caribbean nations would need to pass laws to uphold the prohibition, and he urged opposition parties in the area to back any legislative action taken by their governments.
He mentioned that the Caribbean leaders had requested a discussion on the topic of weaponry from US Vice President Joe Biden.
