The Anguilla House of Assembly has amended Section 50 (a) of the Firearms Act which now provides a penalty of $200,000 or 5 years imprisonment for persons found in possession of such weapons and ammunition on the island.

The Government side of the House with CM (standing)

Attorney General Wilheim Bourne, who took the two-line change to the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2007 to the House of Assembly on Tuesday, May 27, said that last September Chief Minister and Minister of Home Affairs, Osbourne Fleming, reflecting on the number of serious crimes on the island, had taken a memorandum to Executive Council. As a result of that paper, Section 50 of the Ordinance was amended to provide for persons found in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition in Anguilla to be liable on summary conviction to a fine of $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of three years or to both.

“The Honourable Chief Minister had done quite a bit of research assisted by the Commissioner of Police and the Police Department,” Mr. Bourne said. “He was actually supplied with information that demonstrated over a period of time, between 2006 and them 2007, the number of very serious incidents that had taken place involving firearms and the persons that had been charged and placed before the courts. And Mr. Speaker, you will recall the alarm that the community felt when, for the first time, Anguilla experienced incidents of drive-by shootings and what seemed to be some random offences.” He also pointed out that the community’s abhorrence to those crimes was particularly demonstrated in the march against violence last year.

Mr. Bourne said that the gun crime situation then had motivated the Chief Minister to recommend the increase in penalties to “send an important signal that he was not going to tolerate a situation in Anguilla of rising crime and nothing being done about it.” The top legal official continued: “Some would argue that it is eventually up to the courts as to what fines a person gets but it is imperative that the court, as an institution in the community, should take particular note when laws are passed, similar to this, for the protection of the society as a whole because, at the end of the day, when we all go to our homes and to our beds, we want to know that we are secure whether we are judges or who else. It is important for the court to take note and to implement the laws in the interest of protecting the society as a whole.

Opposition Members Hubert Hughes and Edison Baird

“Mr. Speaker, the amendment that is proposed today is very straightforward. It is actually contained in two lines. And that is, that Section 50 of the Firearms Act is amended in paragraph (a) by replacing the numbers 50,000 (dollars) and 3 (years imprisonment) with the numbers 200,000 (dollars) and 5 (years imprisonment) respectively.” The Attorney General explained that no action was taken to amend paragraph (b) of the Section which provides a fine or imprisonment for a period of 14 years or both.”

The Attorney General stated that persons in the community had “a serious responsibility to ensure that crime was diminished, discouraged and curtailed in society. It is no good looking only to the Government, to the police and related agencies to do the…work in relation to these crimes…”

Second Nominated Member, Keesha Webster, urged that: “It is now up to the judiciary to do its part in responding to the cry of the legislature so that each case still has to be looked at upon its merits and the court still has a very wide discretion as to the penalties of the case. Certainly our action here sends a clear message to the judiciary and I am sure one that will be adhered to in the courts.”

She said that even with the previous increased penalties there had been a reduction in the number of firearm offences coming to the courts. She was of the view that the reason was not only as a result of the action of the legislature increasing the penalties then, but because of the court’s intolerance of the offences and imposing harsher penalties and in some cases imposing the maximum.”

Mr. Edison Baird placed on record his support for the amendment to the Firearms Act. “It is simple knowledge that we have too many guns in this country,” he stated. “A lot of the people, especially young people, feel that they must have a gun and they must have a dog…and we have to be very firm with these people who feel that they can use guns and dogs to intimidate the people of this country; and if carrying up the fines from 50,000 to 200,000 and from 3 to 5 years will better position the Magistrate after looking at the facts, we feel it is a good thing.”

In speaking about the crime situation, Chief Minister Fleming said the Government was in the process of purchasing an area of land to build a new prison. “We are not happy about this as we should be spending the money in building facilities for training for our young people,” he said. “The [present] prison has become inadequate. This is not going to change therefore we have to build a new prison.”

“If you are found with an unlicenced firearm, you may be charged $200,000 or 5 years in jail,” Chief Minister Fleming warned young people. “This is what we as legislators are now putting in place but the Magistrates and Judges have to make the final decision. These are the maximum charges.”

Other speakers in support of the legislation were Mr. Hubert Hughes and Mr. Albert Hughes following which the Attorney General wrapped up the debate and the House passed the amendment.

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