BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Persons found in possession of illegal firearms will now face stiffer penalty.
This is as a result of last week’s passing of the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2009 by the Federation’s Legislative body, which makes certain additions to the St. Christopher/Nevis Firearms Act No. 23 of 1967.
The amendment, which was passed in the House of Parliament last Thursday, makes provision for an additional “smuggling” charge to be preferred against any individual found to be in possession of an illegal firearm.
“The Act is amended in Section 20 by adding the following new subsections (6) and (7) and as follows: (6) Subject to subsections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (7) and sections 4, 8 and the Customs (Control and Management) Act, a person found in possession of a firearm commits the offence of smuggling a firearm into St. Christopher and Nevis,” the bill reads.
Prime Minister of the Federation and Minister of National Security, Dr. the Hon. Denzil Llewellyn Douglas on Thursday provided enlightenment on the purpose of the amendment, noting that the legislation is of absolute necessity especially since the Federation does not manufacture firearms.
“The Bill seeks to address the element of illegally obtaining stiff penalties for its commission, the commission of a crime that is related to smuggling of firearms here into St. Kitts and Nevis. And why is this so absolutely necessary?
“We do not manufacture, in St. Kitts and Nevis, any firearms. We are not a gun-producing country. We do not have any gun-making factories here in St. Kitts and Nevis. It stands to reason that any firearm that is in fact being used illegally, has to be a firearm that was brought into the country legally and is being abused or misused in an illegal way or it is a firearm that has been brought into the country illegally. And so if a firearm is found in the commission of a crime and the user or the holder or the so-called owner of that firearm is not one who is licensed by the authority to own, and therefore use such a firearm, it means that it would have been brought into the country illegally.
“So that person should not only be guilty of a crime in terms of the use of the firearm, the possession of the firearm, but such a person should also be made responsible to answer to the crime of illegally importing into the country a firearm, as the case may be.”
Further outlined in the amendment is the maximum 20-year imprisonment penalty which can be imposed should a person be convicted of the offence. This penalty, however, is in addition to any penalty imposed upon conviction of possession charges.
“(7) A person who contravenes the provision of subsection (6) is liable, in addition to any other penalty pursuant to any other charge under this section:
(a) On summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or
(b) On indictment to a term of imprisonment no exceeding twenty years.”
In this case, the preferred smuggling charge is “a strict liability offence” which the prosecution would not be required to prove during court proceedings.
The amendment, as expressed by PM Douglas and as noted in the explanatory memorandum, “reflects the policy of the Government to protect the citizens of Saint Christopher and Nevis and to main peace, order, liberty and to promote public safety. The bill is part of the ongoing effort to reduce, if not totally eradicate, crime and violence in the Federation.”
