Leader of the Opposition Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson states that the “PDM does not support Gun Amnesty”.
Mrs. Robinson says that the PDM supports Gun Amnesty Programs but cannot support the Gun Amnesty Program under the terms set out recently by the Commissioner of Police. In a Press Conference, the Commissioner said that all guns will be tested for its involvement in crimes where charges can be later brought. We believe that this term will doom the Program to fail and we believe that no one is going to turn in illegal guns under these conditions.
We strongly suggest that the Police remove this term and then we the PDM will support this and join its campaign. Whilst we want to solve crimes, the primary objective has to now be to get the guns off the street. We believe that this Program can work and we want it to work but the objective must be to get the guns off the street and not to deter persons to turn in illegal fire arms.
We also believe that the plan to increase the cost of licenses to carry legal firearms is also not a good move. From reports, recent criminal incidences that made the Media are believed to have involved the use of illegal fire arms. It is not fair to ask law abiding citizens licensed firearm carriers to pay more as a result. We believe that if there is a problem with licensed carriers that the individual or individuals ought to be dealt with and if necessary have their licenses revoked.
We believe that every effort must be made to encourage legal carriage of fire arms where necessary and nothing should be put in place to deter this.
We believe that the time is right for a Gun Amnesty but we believe that every effort must be made to encourage the widest possible participation in the Program
