Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang assures citizens that the upcoming gun amnesty is not expected to interfere with the normal flow of police duties.
The Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction, and Regulation) (Firearms Amnesty) Order, 2022, which will facilitate the amnesty, was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday (November 1).
The amnesty, which runs from Saturday, November 5, until midnight Saturday, November 19, it will afford persons possessing illegal or unregistered firearms or ammunition the opportunity to surrender these to the State without the fear of prosecution.
However, Dr. Chang, who also doubles as Deputy Prime Minister, stressed that if a criminal uses a firearm in an armed robbery, he will be charged the same way he would be today.
He spoke during Wednesday’s (November 2) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
Dr. Chang said the 14-day amnesty will target persons with no criminal intent, noting that penalties under the new Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction, and Regulations ) Act, 2022, which is now in effect, are stringent and designed to be deterrents to crime.
“We are fully aware that given the cross section of opinion out there in society, we have to respond to all of them. We are a democracy. And it only takes one individual, who may be apprehended with a firearm, that you end up damaging the overall intent of the legislation and, on that basis, we decided to provide a period of amnesty,” the Minister indicated.
The conditions as outlined in the Act are as follows:
- Any person may hand over firearms or ammunition to a subofficer or senior subofficer on duty at any police station.
- Or to any designated officer at a Firearms Licensing Authority (FLA) location.
- Or to an Attorney-at-Law on behalf of an individual seeking amnesty for delivery to the nearest police station.
The penalty for breaches of the new Act will range from 15 years to life imprisonment.